To find the mass of the cart, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that \( F = m \cdot a \), where \( F \) is the force, \( m \) is the mass, and \( a \) is the acceleration.
We can rearrange the formula to solve for mass \( m \): \[ m = \frac{F}{a} \]
We can use any of the trials provided to calculate the mass. Let's use Trial 1 as an example:
Trial 1:
- Force (F) = 10 N
- Acceleration (a) = 2.5 m/s²
Now, we can calculate the mass: \[ m = \frac{10 , \text{N}}{2.5 , \text{m/s}^2} = 4 , \text{kg} \]
We can check if this mass is consistent with the other trials:
Trial 2:
- Force (F) = 12 N
- Acceleration (a) = 3 m/s² \[ m = \frac{12 , \text{N}}{3 , \text{m/s}^2} = 4 , \text{kg} \]
Trial 3:
- Force (F) = 22 N
- Acceleration (a) = 5.5 m/s² \[ m = \frac{22 , \text{N}}{5.5 , \text{m/s}^2} = 4 , \text{kg} \]
The mass calculated from all trials is consistently 4 kg.
Thus, the mass of the cart is: b. 4 kg
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