Question

2. Explain in your own words what the calculated acceleration means for the box's motion. You may use the following sentence stem to help you start your answer but feel free to elaborate some more and add your own words to it.

Sentence Stem:

"The forces acting on the box are __________________, __________________, __________________, and __________________. The net force is ______ N because __________________. Using Newton’s second law, the acceleration is ______ m/s², which means the box will __________________."

(2 points)

Answer 1

"The forces acting on the box are gravity (weight) downward, the normal force upward, the applied (push or pull) force horizontally, and kinetic friction opposite the applied motion. The net force is the vector sum of those forces — for example, if the applied force is 15 N to the right and friction is 5 N to the left the net force is 10 N to the right because 15 N − 5 N = 10 N. Using Newton’s second law, the acceleration is a = Fnet/m (for the example, if m = 5 kg then a = 10 N / 5 kg = 2.0 m/s²), which means the box will accelerate to the right, gaining 2.0 m/s of speed every second.

In plain terms: the calculated acceleration tells you how quickly the box’s velocity changes. A positive acceleration in the direction of motion means the box speeds up; a negative acceleration (net force opposite the velocity) means it slows down. The units m/s² mean the box’s speed changes by that many meters per second each second, so with constant acceleration you can predict its speed and position at later times using kinematic equations."