You are sitting in the back of a produce truck that has stopped at a red light.

Question

You are sitting in the back of a produce truck that has stopped at a red light. You want to measure its acceleration when the light turns green. You could actually measure the acceleration of the truck by measuring the increase in weight of a mass with a spring scale. You decide to hang a large potato on a spring scale. It weighs 4.5N. The light turns green. The truck begins to accelerate. As the truck accelerates apparent weight of the large potato increases to 4.95N as it swings from the vertical.

Explanation / Answer

vertical acceleration = g = 9.8 m/s^2
horizontal acceleration = a (of truck)
apparent acceleration = f

f^2 = a^2 + g^2
multiplying by m^2
[mf]^2 = [ma]^2 + [mg]^2
===============
given > mg = 4.5 N, mf = 4.95 N
[ma]^2 = 4.2525
ma = 2.062
m = 4.5/9.8 = 0.459kg

a = 4.49 m/s^2

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