A person riding a rollercoaster has a mass of 74 kg. The rollercoaster, at the beginning of the ride, exerts a force on the rider causing the rider (and the rollercoaster) to accelerate. This force is 562 N. What is the acceleration of the roller coaster?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The formula to find the required force is force = mass in kg × acceleration in m/s².
F=ma
To find the mass of an object we must isolate mass. To do this, we divide both sides by the acceleration
F/a = ma/a
F/a = m
Then we plug in the numbers from the problem.
92.5 N / 9.8 m/s2 = 9.43 kg which rounds to 9.4 kg
Mass is always positive. Even though the gravitational acceleration is negative, scales don't typically read negative forces. They assume that the user understands which way the forces are going.

A Person Riding a Rollercoaster Has a Mass of 74