College

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

Answer :

We start with Newton's second law, which states that

[tex]$$ F = m \cdot a, $$[/tex]

where:
- [tex]$F$[/tex] is the force acting on the canoe,
- [tex]$m$[/tex] is the mass of the canoe and paddler combined, and
- [tex]$a$[/tex] is the acceleration produced.

Rearranging the formula to solve for acceleration, we get:

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

Substitute the given values:

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

Calculating the value:

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

Rounded to one decimal place, this result is approximately [tex]$0.7 \text{ m/s}^2$[/tex].

Thus, the acceleration of the canoe is [tex]$0.7 \text{ m/s}^2$[/tex], which corresponds to option A.