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Your friend says that the heavyweight champion of the world cannot exert a force

ID: 2177017 • Letter: Y

Question

Your friend says that the heavyweight champion of the world cannot exert a force of 50 N on a piece of tissue paper with his best punch. The tissue paper is held in midair- no wall, no tricks. You...

A)have reservations about this assertion
B)disagree, for a good punch easily delivers this much force
C)agree that it can't be done

Please explain how you arrived at your answer. Thank you.

Explanation / Answer

F = Ma ---> a = F/M The mass of the tissue is so low that it would have an insane acceleration, which would also require the champ's arm accelerate that fast which it won't. The tissue having very low strength there is no help from wind drag; the tissue will tear long before it transmits even a fraction of 50N