Question

Students are investigating how mass affects the force needed to move an object. They attached a wooden block to a spring scale and placed a 10 g mass on top of the block and pulled it 50 cm across the table.Which of the following changes to their setup would result in a larger force reading on the spring scale?Sliding the block 60 cmAttaching a larger spring scaleUsing a 20 g massUsing a circular piece of wood

Answer 1

Adding a larger mass to the setup would result in a larger force reading on the spring scale because force is directly proportional to mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is investigating how mass affects the force that's needed to move an object. In this case, to result in a larger force reading on the spring scale, one would have to use a 20 g mass instead of a 10 g mass. According to Newton's second law of motion, the force required to move an object is directly proportional to its mass, given a consistent acceleration. Therefore, doubling the mass will result in a doubling of the force if all other variables remain constant. Changing the shape of the wood, sliding the block further, or using a different spring scale would not inherently affect the force required to move the block with the same mass.