Question

Question

A teacher is demonstrating acceleration to his class by throwing two balls. He throws both balls using the same amount of force in the same direction. The first ball he throws has a mass of 0.1 kg and the second ball has a mass of 0.5 kg. Explain why.
Responses

The balls will have equal acceleration because they are being thrown with the same force.
The balls will have equal acceleration because they are being thrown with the same force.

The balls will have equal acceleration because they are being thrown in the same direction.
The balls will have equal acceleration because they are being thrown in the same direction.

The first ball has a smaller mass, so it will have greater acceleration than the second ball.
The first ball has a smaller mass, so it will have greater acceleration than the second ball.

The first ball has a smaller mass, so it will have less acceleration than the second ball.

Answer 1

The correct explanation of what happens when the teacher throws both balls is that the first ball has a smaller mass, so it will have greater acceleration than the second ball.

This can be understood using Newton's second law of motion, which states that force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma). If the same force is applied to both balls, the acceleration can be calculated as:

\[ a = \frac{F}{m} \]

For the first ball (0.1 kg), the acceleration will be greater compared to the second ball (0.5 kg) because the mass of the first ball is smaller. Therefore, when the same force is applied, the smaller mass results in greater acceleration.

So, the correct response would be:

The first ball has a smaller mass, so it will have greater acceleration than the second ball.