Question

If an object with a mass of 20 kg has two forces acting upon it. One force to the right has a magnitude of 55 N. One force to the left has a magnitude of 23 N. What is the acceleration of the object and the direction of the acceleration?

Answer 1

Given data

*The given mass of the bject is m = 20 kg

*The force exerted to the right of the object is F_1 = 55 N

*The force exerted to the left of the object is F_2 = 23 N

The net force acting on the object is calculated as

$\begin{gathered} F_{net}=F_1-F_2 \\ =(55)-(23) \\ =32\text{ N} \end{gathered}$

The formula for the acceleration of the object is given as

$a=\frac{F_{net}}{m}$

Substitute the known values in the above expression as

$\begin{gathered} a=\frac{32}{20} \\ =1.6m/s^2 \end{gathered}$

Hence, the acceleration of the object is 1.6 m/s^2 and the direction of the acceleration is towards the right direction.