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The same net external force is applied first to a basketball and then to a stalled car. What happens to the acceleration?
AThe car accelerates far less than the basketball
BThe car accelerates far more than the basketball
CBoth accelerate at exactly the same rate
DThe car does not accelerate at any applied force
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. The car accelerates far less than the basketball
1. Acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the system.
2. The larger the mass, the smaller the acceleration produced by a given force.
3. A car has far more mass than a basketball, so it accelerates far less under the same push.
4. The free-body diagrams are identical, so only the mass explains the difference.
5. The car does accelerate, just by an amount too small to notice.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 4 "Dynamics: Force and Newton's Laws of Motion", section 4.3 Newton's Second Law of Motion: Concept of a System_
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