Question

at dinner, hans passed the salt shaker to his sister jessica by sliding it across the wooden table. the salt shaker gradually slowed down and stopped after moving 12 centimeters. why did the salt shaker stop moving? the salt shaker ran out of force. the table exerts a force that is opposite to the salt shakers motion. the table absorbs force from the salt shaker. all objects stop moving because their natural state is to be still.

Explanation:

When the salt shaker slides on the wooden table, friction acts as a resistive force. Friction is a force that opposes the relative motion between two surfaces in contact. Here, the table - salt shaker interface has friction which gradually slows down the shaker until it stops. The concept of force running out is incorrect as force is not something an object "has" or "runs out of" in this context. The table doesn't absorb force in the sense described in the option, and the idea that all objects' natural state is to be still is a misinterpretation of Newton's first law (objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force).

Answer:

The table exerts a force that is opposite to the salt shaker's motion.