A group of children are engaged in a game of tug-of-war. The children on the left-hand side of the rope pull with magnitude of 110 N to the left. The children on the right-hand side of the rope pull with a magnitude of 140 N to the right.

Question

If you assign a positive value to forces applied to the left and a negative value to forces applied to the right, what is the net force applied to the rope?

(1 point)
Responses

30 N
30 N

-30 N
-30 N

140 N
140 N

250 N

Answer 1

To find the net force, we can assign the forces applied by the children on the left a positive value and the forces applied by the children on the right a negative value.

• The left-hand side exerts a force of \( +110 , \text{N} \) (to the left).
• The right-hand side exerts a force of \( -140 , \text{N} \) (to the right).

Now, we can calculate the net force:

\[ \text{Net force} = (+110 , \text{N}) + (-140 , \text{N}) = 110 , \text{N} - 140 , \text{N} = -30 , \text{N} \]

Thus, the net force applied to the rope is \( -30 , \text{N} \), indicating that the overall force is toward the right.

The correct response is: -30 N.