Mission NL8 F=m*a Calculations

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The net force and the resulting acceleration as experienced by four objects are listed below. Rank the objects in order of increasing mass, beginning with the least massive. ...

The relationship between net force (F_net), mass (m) and acceleration (a) is expressed by the equation

F_net = m•a

Most Physics teachers have solved thousands of physics problems. After all, it's not only a part of their training, it's a part of their profession - to solve problems. After that many problems, you become a problem-solving expert. Yet, every one of these experts would never dare approach this problem without having a sheet of paper and writing utensil out to write some information down. Do you have a sheet of paper out? If not, that's the intelligent first step for this problem.

Now organize yourself and determine the mass of each object individually. The equation above can be algebraically rearranged to m = F_net/ a. Each quantity is provided; divide the F_net(sum of all the forces) by the acceleration and write it down. Repeat for all objects and then rank them.