Question

the table below shows the force a student used to throw the different sports equipment twenty yards.

sports equipment	force (n)	mass (g)
soccer ball	20 n	18 g
tennis ball	20 n	5 g
golf ball	20 n	8 g

which statement best describes how the force and mass would affect the acceleration of the sports equipment?
the football would have more acceleration than the golf ball because it has more mass
the football would have less acceleration than the golf ball because it has more mass
the football would have the same acceleration as the golf ball because the student used the same amount of force
the football would have more acceleration than the golf ball because it has less mass

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Newton's second - law formula

Newton's second - law is $F = ma$, where $F$ is force, $m$ is mass and $a$ is acceleration. We can rewrite it as $a=\frac{F}{m}$.

Step2: Analyze the given data

The force $F = 20N$ is the same for all sports equipment. The mass of the football is $m_{football}=20g$ and the mass of the golf ball is $m_{golf - ball}=8g$.

Step3: Compare accelerations

Since $a=\frac{F}{m}$ and $F$ is constant, the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass. That is, the object with a smaller mass will have a larger acceleration. Since $m_{football}>m_{golf - ball}$, we have $a_{football}

Answer:

The football would have less acceleration than the golf ball because it has more mass.