Question

A cleaner pushes a 4.50-kg laundry cart in such a way that the net external force on it is 60.0 N. Calculate the magnitude of its acceleration.

Short answer

The magnitude of the acceleration is13.334 m/s².

Step-by-step solution

Concept of Newton’s second law of motion.

The Newton’s second law of motion states that the acceleration of a system is directly proportional to the net external force acting on the system and is inversely proportional to the mass of the system. It is mathematically presented as:

${\mathit{F}}_{\mathbf{n}\mathbf{e}\mathbf{t}}\mathbf{=}\mathit{m}\mathit{a}$ .........................(i)

where F_net is the net force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration.

Given Data

• Mass of the laundry cart = 45 kg.
• Net external force = 60 N.

Determine the magnitude of the acceleration of the cart.

Substitute4.5 kg form and60 N forF_net in equation (i), and we get,

$\begin{array}{c}60\text{\hspace{0.33em}N}=4.5\text{\hspace{0.33em}kg}\times a\\ a=\frac{60\text{\hspace{0.33em}kg}\cdot {\text{m/s}}^{\text{2}}}{4.5\text{\hspace{0.33em}kg}}\\ a=13.334{\text{\hspace{0.33em}m/s}}^{\text{2}}\end{array}$

Hence, the magnitude of the acceleration of the cart is13.334 m/s².