A student is investigating mass and acceleration. The student applies the same force to two boxes, as shown in the table.

Question

The student claims that box 1 must have a smaller mass than box 2. Which argument best supports the student's claim?(1 point)
Responses

Lighter objects need greater force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
Lighter objects need greater force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.

Heavier objects need greater force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.
Heavier objects need greater force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.

Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.

Heavier objects need less force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.

Answer 1

The correct argument that best supports the student's claim that box 1 must have a smaller mass than box 2, given that the same force is applied to both boxes, is:

Heavier objects need greater force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.

This statement implies that if the same force is applied to both boxes and they have different accelerations, the box that accelerates more (which would be box 1) must have a smaller mass compared to the box that accelerates less (box 2). Thus, a lighter box (box 1) will accelerate more under the same force.