High School

You paddle a canoe with a force of 156 N. You and the canoe have a combined mass of 220 kg. What is the acceleration of the canoe?

A. [tex]2.3 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
B. [tex]0.7 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
C. [tex]1.1 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
D. [tex]1.4 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]

Answer :

To find the acceleration of the canoe, we can use Newton's second law of motion. Newton's second law states that the force acting on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. The formula is expressed as:

[tex]\[ F = m \times a \][/tex]

where:
- [tex]\( F \)[/tex] is the force applied (in newtons),
- [tex]\( m \)[/tex] is the mass of the object (in kilograms),
- [tex]\( a \)[/tex] is the acceleration (in meters per second squared).

In this problem, we know:
- The force [tex]\( F \)[/tex] is 156 N,
- The combined mass [tex]\( m \)[/tex] of you and the canoe is 220 kg.

We need to find the acceleration [tex]\( a \)[/tex]. By rearranging the formula, we get:

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

Substituting the given values into the formula:

[tex]\[ a = \frac{156 \, \text{N}}{220 \, \text{kg}} \][/tex]

Calculating this gives us:

[tex]\[ a \approx 0.709 \, \text{m/s}^2 \][/tex]

The closest answer choice provided is:

B. [tex]\(0.7 \, \text{m/s}^2\)[/tex]