An animal is walking forward. There is an applied force from the animal of 25 N to the right, a frictional force of 18 N to the left, a force of gravity of 65

Question

N down and the animal is being pushed up by the ground with 65 N. What best describes the motion of the animal?

Answer 1

To analyze the motion of the animal, we can look at the forces acting on it:

1. Applied Force (to the right): 25 N
2. Frictional Force (to the left): 18 N
3. Force of Gravity (down): 65 N
4. Normal Force (up): 65 N

First, let's consider the horizontal forces:

• The net force in the horizontal direction is calculated by subtracting the frictional force from the applied force:

  \[ \text{Net Horizontal Force} = \text{Applied Force} - \text{Frictional Force} \] \[ \text{Net Horizontal Force} = 25, N - 18, N = 7, N \text{ (to the right)} \]

This means that there is a net force of 7 N to the right, which will cause the animal to accelerate in that direction.

Next, let's consider the vertical forces:

• The force of gravity (down) is balanced by the normal force (up), since both are equal at 65 N. Thus, there is no net force in the vertical direction.

In summary:

• There is a net force of 7 N to the right, which will cause the animal to accelerate in that direction.
• The vertical forces are balanced.

Therefore, the best description of the motion of the animal is that it is accelerating to the right.