Question

fill in the blank question
while in a 1000 kg car traveling on cruise control, you are told the air resistance is generating a force of 16000 n against your motion. your two friends in the back decide they want to accelerate the car, so they push on the seats of the car with 600 n of force each. the change in cars acceleration now becomes ______ m/s².

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate total applied force

Two friends push with 600 N each, so total applied force $F_{app} = 600\ \text{N} + 600\ \text{N} = 1200\ \text{N}$

Step2: Determine net force

Air resistance is opposing motion, so net force $F_{net} = F_{app} - F_{resistance} = 1200\ \text{N} - 16000\ \text{N} = -14800\ \text{N}$

Step3: Apply Newton's second law

Use $a = \frac{F_{net}}{m}$, where $m=1000\ \text{kg}$.
$a = \frac{-14800\ \text{N}}{1000\ \text{kg}} = -14.8\ \text{m/s}^2$

Answer:

$-14.8$