College

You are riding a bicycle. If you apply a forward force of 172 N, and you and the bicycle have a combined mass of 51 kg, what will be the forward acceleration of the bicycle? (Assume there is no friction.)

A. [tex]3.37 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
B. [tex]0.30 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
C. [tex]1.67 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]
D. [tex]1.85 \, \text{m/s}^2[/tex]

Answer :

Sure, let's solve this problem step-by-step.

The question involves calculating the forward acceleration of a bicycle that is subject to a known force, given the combined mass of the rider and the bicycle.

We use Newton's second law of motion, which is given by:

[tex]\[ F = ma \][/tex]

where:
- [tex]\( F \)[/tex] is the force applied,
- [tex]\( m \)[/tex] is the mass of the object,
- [tex]\( a \)[/tex] is the acceleration.

We need to solve for [tex]\( a \)[/tex] (acceleration), so we rearrange the formula:

[tex]\[ a = \frac{F}{m} \][/tex]

Given in the problem:
- The forward force [tex]\( F \)[/tex] = 172 N (Newtons)
- The combined mass [tex]\( m \)[/tex] = 51 kg (kilograms)

Now, we can plug these values into the equation:

[tex]\[ a = \frac{172\ \text{N}}{51\ \text{kg}} \][/tex]

When we divide 172 by 51, we get:

[tex]\[ a \approx 3.37\ \text{m/s}^2 \][/tex]

Thus, the forward acceleration of the bicycle is approximately [tex]\( 3.37\ \text{m/s}^2 \)[/tex].

Therefore, the correct answer is:
A. [tex]\( 3.37\ m / s ^2 \)[/tex]