Essential University Physics, 3e (Wolfson)

Chapter 4 Force and Motion

4.1 Conceptual Questions
1) You swing a bat and hit a heavy box with a force of 1500 N. The force the box exerts on the
bat is
A) exactly 1500 N only if the box does not move.
B) exactly 1500 N whether or not the box moves.
C) greater than 1500 N if the box moves.
D) less than 1500 N if the box moves.
E) greater than 1500 N if the bat bounces back.
Answer: B
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2) Point P in the figure indicates the position of an object traveling at constant speed clockwise
around the circle. Which arrow best represent the direction the object would travel if the net
external force on it were suddenly reduced to zero?

A)

B)

C)
D)

E)

Answer: D
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3) An object is moving to the right, and experiencing a net force that is directed to the right. The
magnitude of the force is decreasing with time. The speed of the object is
A) increasing.
B) decreasing.
C) constant in time.
Answer: A
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4) In order to get an object moving, you must push harder on it than it pushes back on you.
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
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5) In order to lift a bucket of concrete, you must pull up harder on the bucket than it pulls down
on you.
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
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6) A 615 N student standing on a scale in an elevator notices that the scale reads 645 N. From
this information, the student knows that the elevator must be moving
A) downward.
B) upward.
C) You cannot tell if it is moving upward or downward.
Answer: C
Var: 1

7) A car is being towed at constant velocity on a horizontal road using a horizontal chain. The
tension in the chain must be equal to the weight of the car in order to maintain constant velocity.
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
Var: 1

8) You are standing in a moving bus, facing forward, and you suddenly fall forward as the bus
comes to an immediate stop. The force acting on you that causes you to fall forward is
A) the force of gravity.
B) the normal force due to your contact with the floor of the bus.
C) the force due to static friction between you and the floor of the bus.
D) the force due to kinetic friction between you and the floor of the bus.
E) No forces were acting on you to cause you to fall.
Answer: E
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9) Consider what happens when you jump up in the air. Which of the following is the most
accurate statement?
A) It is the upward force exerted by the ground that pushes you up, but this force cannot exceed
your weight.
B) You are able to spring up because the earth exerts a force upward on you that is greater than
the downward force you exert on the earth.
C) Since the ground is stationary, it cannot exert the upward force necessary to propel you into
the air. Instead, it is the internal forces of your muscles acting on your body itself that propels
your body into the air.
D) When you push down on the earth with a force greater than your weight, the earth will push
back with the same magnitude force and thus propel you into the air.
E) When you jump up the earth exerts a force F1 on you and you exert a force F2 on the earth.
You go up because F1 > F2.
Answer: D
Var: 1
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10) A 20-ton truck collides with a 1500-lb car and causes a lot of damage to the car. During the
collision
A) the force on the truck due to the collision is slightly greater than the force on the car.
B) the force of on the truck due to the collision is exactly equal to the force on the car.
C) the force on the car due to the collision is much greater than the force on the truck.
D) the car and the truck have the same magnitude acceleration.
Answer: B
Var: 1

11) Two objects, each of weight W, hang vertically by spring scales as shown in the figure. The
pulleys and the strings attached to the objects have negligible weight, and there is no appreciable
friction in the pulleys. The reading in each scale is

A) W.
B) more than W, but not quite twice as much.
C) less than W.
D) 2W.
E) more than 2W.
Answer: A
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12) A fish weighing 16 N is weighed using two spring scales, each of negligible weight, as
shown in the figure. What will be the readings of the scales?

A) The bottom scale will read 16 N, and the top scale will read zero.
B) Each scale will read 16 N.
C) The top scale will read 16 N, and the bottom scale will read zero.
D) The scales will have different readings, but the sum of the two readings will be 16 N.
E) Each scale will read 8 N.
Answer: B
Var: 1
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13) Which one of the following free-body diagrams best represents the free-body diagram, with
correct relative force magnitudes, of a person in an elevator that is traveling upward with an
unchanging velocity? f is the force of the floor on the person and g is the force of gravity on
the person.
A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Answer: B
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14) Which one of the following free-body diagrams best represents the free-body diagram, with
correct relative force magnitudes, of a person in an elevator that is traveling upward but is
gradually slowing down at a rate of 9 m/s2? f is the force of the floor on the person and g is
the force of gravity on the person.
A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

Answer: B
Var: 1

15) A box slides down a frictionless plane inclined at an angle above the horizontal. The
gravitational force on the box is directed
A) parallel to the plane in the same direction as the movement of the box.
B) parallel to the plane in the opposite direction as the movement of the box.
C) perpendicular to the plane.
D) vertically.
E) at an angle below the inclined plane.
Answer: D
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16) An object is moving forward with a constant velocity. Which statement about this object
MUST be true?
A) The net force on the object is zero.
B) The net force on the object is in the forward direction.
C) No forces are acting on the object.
D) The acceleration of the object is in the forward direction.
Answer: A
Var: 1

17) Suppose you are playing hockey on a new-age ice surface for which there is no friction
between the ice and the hockey puck. You wind up and hit the puck as hard as you can. After the
puck loses contact with your stick, the puck will
A) start to slow down.
B) not slow down or speed up.
C) speed up a little, and then slow down.
D) speed up a little, and then move at a constant speed.
Answer: B
Var: 1

18) A ball is tossed vertically upward. When it reaches its highest point (before falling back
downward)
A) the velocity is zero, the acceleration is directed downward, and the force of gravity acting on
the ball is directed downward.
B) the velocity is zero, the acceleration is zero, and the force of gravity acting on the ball is zero.
C) the velocity is zero, the acceleration is zero, and the force of gravity acting on the ball is
directed downward.
D) the velocity and acceleration reverse direction, but the force of gravity on the ball remains
downward.
E) the velocity, acceleration, and the force of gravity on the ball all reverse direction.
Answer: A
Var: 1

19) A dog is standing in the bed of a pickup truck. The bed is coated with ice, causing the force
of friction between the dog and the truck to be zero. The truck is initially at rest, and then
accelerates to the right, moving along a flat road. As seen from a stationary observer (watching
the truck move to the right), the dog
A) does not move left or right, but the back of the truck moves towards the dog.
B) moves to the right, but not as quickly as the truck is moving to the right, causing it to slide
towards the back of the truck.
C) moves to the right at the same rate as the truck, so it doesn't slide.
D) moves to the left, as the truck moves to the right, causing the dog to slide towards the back of
the truck.
Answer: A
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20) You are seated in a bus and notice that a hand strap that is hanging from the ceiling hangs
away from the vertical in the backward direction. From this observation, you can conclude that
A) the velocity of the bus is forward.
B) the velocity of the bus is backward.
C) You cannot conclude anything about the direction of the velocity of the bus.
Answer: C
Var: 1

21) Consider a plot of the displacement (x) as a function of the applied force (F) for an ideal
elastic spring. The slope of the curve would be
A) the spring constant.
B) the reciprocal of the spring constant.
C) the acceleration due to gravity.
D) the reciprocal of the acceleration of gravity.
E) the mass of the object attached to the spring.
Answer: B
Var: 1

22) Which of the graphs in the figure illustrates Hooke's Law?

A) Graph a
B) Graph b
C) Graph c
D) graph d
Answer: B
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23) Which of the graphs in the figure represents a spring that gets less stiff the more it is
stretched?

A) Graph a
B) Graph b
C) Graph c
D) Graph d
Answer: D
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4.2 Problems
1) A block lies on a horizontal frictionless surface. A horizontal force of 100 N is applied to the
block giving rise to an acceleration of 3.0 m/s2.
(a) Determine the mass of the block.
(b) Calculate the distance the block will travel if the force is applied for 10 s.
(c) Calculate the speed of the block after the force has been applied for 10 s.
Answer: (a) 33 kg (b) 150 m (c) 30 m/s
Var: 1

2) If a 5.0 kg box is pulled simultaneously by a 10.0 N force and a 5.0 N force, then its
acceleration must be
A) 3.0 m/s2.
B) 2.2 m/s2.
C) 1.0 m/s2.
D) We cannot tell from the information given.
Answer: D
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3) The figure shows an acceleration-versus-force graph for three objects pulled by rubber bands.
The mass of object 2 is 36 kg. What are the masses of objects 1 and 3?

A) 14 kg and 90 kg
B) 72 kg and 18 kg
C) 90 kg and 18 kg
D) 14 kg and 72 kg
Answer: A
Var: 50+

4) A 7.0-kg object is acted on by two forces. One of the forces is 10.0 N acting toward the east.
Which of the following forces is the other force if the acceleration of the object is 1.0 m/s2
toward the east?
A) 6.0 N east
B) 3.0 N west
C) 12 N east
D) 9.0 N west
E) 7.0 N west
Answer: B
Var: 1

5) The International Space Station has a mass of 1.8 105 kg. A 70.0-kg astronaut inside the
station pushes off one wall of the station so she accelerates at 1.50 m/s2. What is the magnitude
of the acceleration of the space station as the astronaut is pushing off the wall? Give your answer
relative to an observer who is space walking and therefore does not accelerate with the space
station due to the push.
A) 5.8 10-4 m/s2
B) 1.50 m/s2
C) 4.7 10-4 m/s2
D) zero
E) 3.9 10-3 m/s2
Answer: A
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6) On a horizontal frictionless floor, a worker of weight 0.900 kN pushes horizontally with a

force of 0.200 kN on a box weighing 1.80 kN. As a result of this push, which statement could be
true?
A) The box will not move because the push is less than its weight.
B) The worker and box will both have an acceleration of 1.08 m/s2, but in opposite directions.
C) The worker and box will both have an acceleration of 2.17 m/s2, but in opposite directions.
D) The worker will accelerate at 1.08 m/s2 and the box will accelerate at 2.17 m/s2, but in
opposite directions.
E) The worker will accelerate at 2.17 m/s2 and the box will accelerate at 1.08 m/s2, but in
opposite directions.
Answer: E
Var: 1

7) A 50.0-N box is sliding on a rough horizontal floor, and the only horizontal force acting on it
is friction. You observe that at one instant the box is sliding to the right at 1.75 m/s and that it
stops in 2.25 s with uniform acceleration. What magnitude force does friction exert on this box?
A) 3.97 N
B) 8.93 N
C) 38.9 N
D) 50.0 N
E) 490 N
Answer: A
Var: 1

8) A block is on a frictionless horizontal table, on earth. This block accelerates at 1.9 m/ when
a
horizontal force is applied to it. The block and table are then set up on the moon where
the acceleration due to gravity is 1.62 m/s2. What is the weight of the block on the moon?
A) 77 N
B) 67 N
C) 58 N
D) 48 N
E) 39 N
Answer: A
Var: 50+

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9) A block is on a frictionless horizontal table, on earth. This block accelerates at 3.6 m/ when
a
horizontal force is applied to it. The block and table are then set up on the moon where
the acceleration due to gravity is 1.62 m/ . A horizontal force of 45 N is applied to the block
when it is on the moon. What acceleration does this force impart to the block?
A) 1.8 m/
B) 1.6 m/
C) 2.0 m/
D) 2.2 m/
E) 2.3 m/
Answer: A
Var: 50+

10) An 1100-kg car traveling at 27.0 m/s starts to slow down and comes to a complete stop in
578 m. What is the magnitude of the average braking force acting on the car?
A) 690 N
B) 550 N
C) 410 N
D) 340 N
Answer: A
Var: 1

11) On its own, a certain tow-truck has a maximum acceleration of 3.0 m/s2. What would be the
maximum acceleration when this truck was towing a bus of twice its own mass?
A) 2.5 m/s2
B) 2.0 m/s2
C) 1.5 m/s2
D) 1.0 m/s2
Answer: D
Var: 1

12) In a ballistics test, a 1.50-g bullet is fired through a 28.0-kg block traveling horizontally
toward the bullet. In this test, the bullet takes 11.4 ms to pass through the block as it reverses the
block's velocity from 1.75 m/s to the right to 1.20 m/s to the left with constant acceleration. Find
the magnitude of the force that the bullet exerts on the block during this ballistics test.
Answer: 7.25 103 N
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13) A 10,000-kg rocket blasts off from earth with a uniform upward acceleration of 2.00 m/s2
and feels no air resistance. The upward thrust force its engines must provide during this
acceleration is closest to
A) 20,000 N.
B) 980,000 N.
C) 118,000 N.
D) 78,000 N.
Answer: C
Var: 1

14) 15)Bumpers on cars are not of much use in a collision. To see why, calculate the average
force a bumper would have to exert if it brought a 1200-kg car (a so-called compact model) to a
rest in 15 cm when the car had an initial speed of 2.0 m/s (about 4.5 mph). (Bumpers are built
with springs that compress to provide a stopping force without, hopefully, denting the metal.)
A) 1.8 104 N
B) 1.6 104 N
C) 5.4 104 N
D) 6.5 105 N
E) 3.2 104 N
Answer: B
Var: 1

15) A box of mass 50 kg is at rest on a horizontal frictionless surface. A constant horizontal force
F then acts on the box and accelerates it to the right. It is observed that it takes the box 6.9
seconds to travel 28 meters. What is the magnitude of the force?
Answer: 59 N
Var: 50+

16) A locomotive is pulling 19 freight cars, each of which is loaded with the same amount of
weight. The mass of each freight car (with its load) is 37,000 kg. If the train is accelerating at
on a level track, what is the tension in the coupling between the second and third cars?
(The car nearest the locomotive is counted as the first car, and friction is negligible.)
Answer: 140,000 N
Var: 50+

17) A 1000-kg car is driving toward the north along a straight horizontal road at a speed of 20.0
m/s. The driver applies the brakes and the car comes to a rest uniformly in a distance of 200 m.
What are the magnitude and direction of the net force applied to the car to bring it to rest?
A) 1.00 N north
B) 10.0
N south
C) 1.00
N south
D) 1.00 N south
E) 100 N south
Answer: C
Var: 5

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18) A construction worker pulls a box of tools on a smooth horizontal floor with a force of 100 N
in a direction of 37.0 above the horizontal. The mass of the box and the tools is 40.0 kg.
(a) Draw a free-body diagram for the box.
(b) Calculate the acceleration of the box.
(c) How hard does the floor push up on the box?
Answer: (a) The box is acted on by the force of gravity which points downward toward the
center of the earth. The normal force is directed toward the box perpendicular to the surface of
the floor. The pulling force is directed away from the box at an angle 37.0 degrees above the
horizontal.
(b) 2.00 m/s2
(c) 332 N
Var: 1

19) A 60.0-kg person rides in an elevator while standing on a scale. The scale reads 400 N. The
acceleration of the elevator is closest to
A) 3.13 m/s2 downward.
B) 6.67 m/s2 downward.
C) zero.
D) 9.80 m/s2 downward.
E) 6.67 m/s2 upward.
Answer: A
Var: 1

20) A 60.0-kg person rides in elevator while standing on a scale. The elevator is traveling
downward but slowing down at a rate of 2.00 m/s2. The reading on the scale is closest to
A) 589 N.
B) 708 N.
C) 469 N.
D) 120 N.
E) 349 N.
Answer: B
Var: 1

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21) Three boxes in contact rest side-by-side on a smooth, horizontal floor. Their masses are 5.0kg, 3.0-kg, and 2.0-kg, with the 3.0-kg box in the center. A force of 50 N pushes on the 5.0-kg
box, which pushes against the other two boxes.
(a) Draw the free-body diagrams for each of the boxes.
(b) What magnitude force does the 3.0-kg box exert on the 5.0-kg box?
(c) What magnitude force does the 3.0-kg box exert on the 2.0-kg box?
Answer:
(a) The following forces act on the 5.0-kg box: the force due to gravity, normal force, contact
force between 5.0-kg mass and 3.0-kg mass, the force of 50 N pushing on the box. The
following forces act on the 3.0-kg box: the force due to gravity, normal force, contact force
between the 5.0-kg box and the 3.0-kg box, the contact force between the 3.0-kg box and the 2.0kg box. The following forces act on the 2.0-kg box: the force due to gravity, normal force,
contact force between the 3.0-kg box and the 2.0-kg box.
(b) 25 N
(c) 10 N
Var: 1

22) A 6.00-kg block is in contact with a 4.00-kg block on a horizontal frictionless surface as
shown in the figure. The 6.00-kg block is being pushed by a horizontal 20.0-N force as shown.
What is the magnitude of the force that the 6.00-kg block exerts on the 4.00-kg block?

A) 6.00 N
B) 20.0 N
C) 8.00 N
D) 4.00 N
E) 10.0 N
Answer: C
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23) A series of weights connected by very light cords are given an upward acceleration of 4.00
m/s2 by a pull P, as shown in the figure. A, B, and C are the tensions in the connecting cords.
The pull P is closest to

A) 690 N.
B) 490 N.
C) 290 N.
D) 200 N.
E) 50 N.
Answer: A
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24) A series of weights connected by very light cords are given an upward acceleration of 4.00
m/s2 by a pull P, as shown in the figure. A, B, and C are the tensions in the connecting cords.
The SMALLEST of the three tensions, A, B, and C, is closest to

A) 80.0 N.
B) 196 N.
C) 276 N.
D) 483 N.
E) 621 N.
Answer: C
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25) The figure shows a graph of the acceleration of a 125-g object as a function of the net force
acting on it. What is the acceleration at points A and B?

Answer: A: 16 m/s2, B: 4.0 m/s2

Var: 1

26) The figure shows a graph of the acceleration of an object as a function of the net force acting
on it. The mass of this object, in grams, is closest to

A) 130.
B) 11.
C) 89.
D) 8000.
Answer: A
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27) Two forces act on a

object. One force has magnitude 65 N directed 59 clockwise from
the positive x-axis, and the other has a magnitude 35 N at 32 clockwise from the positive y-axis.
What is the magnitude of this object's acceleration?
A) 1.1 m/s2
B) 1.3 m/s2
C) 1.5 m/s2
D) 1.7 m/s2
Answer: A
Var: 46

28) The graph in the figure shows the x component of the acceleration of a 2.4-kg object as a
function of time (in ms).

(a) At what time(s) does the x component of the net force on the object reach its maximum
magnitude, and what is that maximum magnitude?
(b) What is the x component of the net force on the object at time t = 0.0 ms and at t = 4.0 ms?
Answer: (a) At 3.0 ms, 48 N (b) 12 N, -24 N
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29) The graph in the figure shows the net force acting on a 3.0-kg object as a function of time.

(a) What is the acceleration of this object at time t = 2.0 s?

(b) Draw, to scale, a graph of the acceleration of this object as a function of time over the range t
= 0.00 s to t = 7.0 s.
Answer: (a) 2.0 m/s2
(b) The acceleration-time graph looks the same as the force-time graph except on the vertical
axis the numbers (starting at 2.0) are replaced by 0.67, 1.3, 2.0, 2.7, 3.3, and 4.0.
Var: 1

30) A spring stretches by

that would stretch the spring by
A) 199 N
B) 91.0 N
C) 145 N
D) 279 N
Answer: A

when a

object is attached. What is the weight of a fish

Var: 50+

31) An object attached to an ideal massless spring is pulled across a frictionless surface. If the
spring constant is 45 N/m and the spring is stretched by 0.88 m when the object is accelerating at
what is the mass of the object?
A) 20 kg
B) 17 kg
C) 22 kg
D) 26 kg
Answer: A
Var: 18
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32) In the figure, two identical ideal massless springs have unstretched lengths of 0.25 m and
spring constants of 700 N/m. The springs are attached to a small cube and stretched to a length L
of 0.30 m as in Figure A. An external force P pulls the cube a distance D = 0.020 m to the right
and holds it there. (See Figure B.) The external force P, that holds the cube in place in Figure B,
is closest to

A) 28 N.
B) 25 N.
C) 21 N.
D) 18 N.
E) 14 N.
Answer: A
Var: 1

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