Several motorboats with the same mass are used in an experiment. The forces of the different motors versus their accelerations are graphed. What is the y-intercept of this graph? (1 point)

Question

Responses

the inverse of the mass
the inverse of the mass

the mass
the mass

zero
zero

the velocity

Answer 1

In the context of a graph plotting the force exerted by the motors (on the y-axis) against the acceleration of the motorboats (on the x-axis), according to Newton's second law of motion (F = ma), the relationship can be expressed as:

\[ F = ma \]

When plotted, this linear equation shows that:

• The slope of the graph represents the mass (m).
• If we rearrange the equation, it does not include a constant term; hence, when acceleration (a) is zero, force (F) is also zero.

Since there is no additional constant term in this linear relationship, the y-intercept of this graph will be:

zero

So the correct response is:

zero.