During a game of tug-of-war, two students are pulling on a rope. One student pulls to the left with a force of 35 N, while another student pulls to the right with a force of 35

N. What is the net force being applied to the rope, and in which direction will the rope move? (1 point)
O 70 N; the rope will stay stationary O ON; the rope will stay stationary
• 35 N; the rope will move to the right
O 17.5 N; the rope will move up

1 answer

In this scenario, both students are pulling on the rope with an equal force of 35 N in opposite directions.

To find the net force, we add the forces considering their directions:

  • One student pulls to the left with a force of 35 N (we can consider this as -35 N).
  • The other student pulls to the right with a force of 35 N (we can consider this as +35 N).

Calculating the net force:

\[ \text{Net force} = 35 \text{ N} (right) + (-35 \text{ N}) (left) = 0 \text{ N} \]

Since the net force is 0 N, this means there is no unbalanced force acting on the rope.

Therefore, the rope will stay stationary.

The correct answer is:

  • 0 N; the rope will stay stationary.