Five motorboats are being

Question

tested to see which reaches
the highest velocity in the
same amount of time. After
graphing the acceleration
versus force for each
motorboat, the graph is a
sloped line with a y-intercept
of zero. Which statement is
correct about these
motorboats? (1 point)
All five motorboats
have the same final
velocity, which
cannot be calculated
from the graph.
All five motorboats
have the same
mass, which can be
calculated from the
graph.
All five motorboats
have the same
mass, which cannot
be calculated from
the graph.
All five motorboats
have the same final
velocity, which can
be calculated from
the graph.

Answer 1

To analyze the graph described in the question, the relationship between acceleration (a) and force (F) can be understood through Newton's second law of motion, which states that \( F = ma \) (force equals mass times acceleration).

Given that the graph of acceleration versus force is a straight line with a y-intercept of zero, we know that:

1. The slope of the line represents the mass of the motorboats, since \( m = F/a \) is rearranged from the equation \( F = ma \).

2. A straight line passing through the origin (y-intercept of zero) indicates that the relationship between force and acceleration is linear, which further implies that a constant mass is shared among all motorboats.

Thus, from the information in the graph, we can infer that:

• All five motorboats have the same mass, which can be calculated from the slope of the line (mass = force/acceleration).

Therefore, the correct statement is:

All five motorboats have the same mass, which can be calculated from the graph.