Three individuals are pushing a vehicle that is held in place by 600 N of force, and the combined effort of all three individuals pushing the car forward is 625 N. What was the net force exerted on the car?

A positive value can be assigned to the force keeping the car stationary, and a negative value can be assigned to the force exerted by the people attempting to move the car forward.

(1 point)
Responses

-25N
-25N

25N
25N

-1205N
-1205N

1205N

1 answer

To determine the net force exerted on the car, we can use the following equation:

\[ \text{Net Force} = \text{Force applied} - \text{Force opposing} \]

In this case:

  • The force applied by the three individuals pushing the vehicle forward is 625 N (this will be considered negative since it's trying to move the car forward).
  • The opposing force holding the vehicle stationary is 600 N (this will be considered positive).

Now, we can plug in the values:

\[ \text{Net Force} = -625 , \text{N} + 600 , \text{N} \]

Calculating this gives:

\[ \text{Net Force} = -625 + 600 = -25 , \text{N} \]

This means the net force is -25 N, indicating that the force opposing their effort is greater, and the vehicle remains stationary.

Thus, the correct response is:

-25N