Two children fight over a 200 g stuffed bear. the 25 kg boy pulls to the right with a 15 n force and the 20 kg girl pulls to the left with a 17 n force. ignore all other forces on the bear (such as its weight). at this instant, can you say what the acceleration of the bear is?

10 m/s² to the left.

Given:

Question:

What the acceleration of the bear is?

This is the case for implementing Newton's second law, i.e., 'the resultant force is proportional to the acceleration'. If we also use SI units then 'the resultant force is equal to the product of the mass and the acceleration'.

Let's calculate the net force.

Referring to the horizontal axis marked a positive to the right, then

A negative sign indicates that the bear is moving to the left.

We continue to calculate the bear's acceleration. Remember, the mass that is applied is the mass of the bear that is accelerating.

Thus, the magnitude and direction of the acceleration is

Keywords: two children, a 200 g stuffed bear, the 25 kg boy pulls to the right, a 15 n force, the 20 kg girl, left, a 17 n, what the acceleration, newton's second law, the magnitude and direction