Question

Suppose you hit a 0.058-kg tennis ball so that the ball then moves with an acceleration of 10 m/s2. if you were to hit a basketball of mass 0.58 kg with the same force, what would the acceleration a of the basketball be? *graph is 4/x if that helps.

Answer 1

In this problem, the working equation to be used is the Newton's 2nd law of motion: Force = mass x acceleration. 


First situation: mass = 0.058 kg; acceleration = 10 m/s2

Hence, force is 0.058 kg x 10 m/s2, which is 0.58 N. Since same force is to be used, this same value is used for the second situation.

Second situation: mass = 0.58 kg; Force = 0.58 N

Since F = ma, by transposing, the acceleration could be solved by the equation, a = F/m. Thus, 0.58N/0.58 kg, the acceleration is 1 m/s2.