You just bought an old car which you want to restore. It still drives, though, so you decide to take some friends for a ride in it and you notice that, at stop lights the car bounces up and down because the shocks are gone. They're not bad; they're gone. Anyway, later that day you take many more friends in your car. At stop lights now, you notice that the bouncing frequency will
A) be the same as when it contained fewer friends.
B) be lower than when it contained less friends.
C) be higher than when it contained less friends.
D) not occur because having more mass in the car dissipates energy.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Adding more mass (more friends) to the car increases its inertia, making it harder to bounce up and down. This results in a lower bouncing frequency because the system (car plus passengers) is now heavier, and it takes more time for each oscillation to occur.

You Just Bought an Old Car Which You Want to Restore