Download Physics Showdown

Showdown Questions – cut the cards below, and give one set to each team.
Find the force that produces an acceleration of 4.0 m/s/s for a 0.50 kg cantaloupe.
(2N)
A force of 44.0 N is applied to a 2.0 kg discus. What is the acceleration of the discus?
(22 m/s/s)
A Porsche 911 accelerates to 27 m/s (60 mph) due North in 3.0 s. What is the acceleration of
the car? And if the car has a mass of 1400 kg, what is the average net force acting on the
Porsche? (9 m/s/s) (12600 N)
Glenbard West’s quarterback is pushed back by the opposing front line with a force of 400 N.
One of his own teammates pushes him forward with a force of 640 N. Assume the quarterback
adds no force of his own, and has a mass of 120 kg. What is his acceleration? (2 m/s)
What is the weight of a 100 kg person? (1000 N)
If a person has a mass of 50 kg, they have a weight of about 500 Newtons on Earth. On Mars,
the acceleration of gravity is about 3.7 m/s/s. What is this person’s weight on Mars? (185 N)
If a person has a mass of 50 kg, they have a weight of about 500 Newtons on Earth. On Jupiter,
the acceleration of gravity is about 22.9 m/s/s. What is this person’s weight on Jupiter? (1145 N)
A single fig newton cookie has a mass of 0.0143 kg. How many fig newtons does it take to have
a weight of 1 Newton? (Ok, this could be a tough one. Hint: how much does a single fig Newton weigh?) (7 fig newtons)
If you push a 50 kg desk across the floor with 60 N of force, and there is a frictional force of 20
N, what is the acceleration of the desk? (0.8 m/s/s)
What is required to change an object’s velocity?
(a force)
Which is heavier, 1000 kg of rocks, or 1000 kg of feathers?
(same mass, so the same weight)
If a truck has a certain acceleration with a full load, estimate the truck’s acceleration empty
(assuming it’s now half the weight). (if you half the weight, you double the acceleration)
If the same force is applied to two objects of different masses, what can you say about their
accelerations? (the smaller object will have a higher acceleration)