Question

Only one force acts on an object. Can the object have zero acceleration? Can it have zero velocity? Explain.

Short answer

The acceleration of the object will not be zero, but the velocity of the can will be zero.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Relation between velocity and acceleration

The acceleration of an object is equal to the rate of change of velocity of the object.

Step 2. Checking whether the object can have zero acceleration

According to Newton’s second law, you know that acceleration is directly proportional to the net force applied and follows the relation

$F=ma$.

Here, m is the mass of the object, F is the net force applied, and a is the acceleration.

Since only a single force is being applied, the object experiences a net force, and thus, it will experience a non-zero acceleration.

Step 3. Checking whether the object can have zero velocity

We have concluded that the object will have a non-zero acceleration, which means that the velocity of the object will change with time. However, it can still be zero at any point in time.