Question

in a sport called curling, teams slide stones across ice toward a target. to practice, a team captain is pushing stones with different masses toward the target. the captain pushes each stone with the same force. order the colors of the stones to show the size of the acceleration each stone will have as it is pushed. larger acceleration smaller acceleration

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Newton's second law

Newton's second law is \(F = ma\), where \(F\) is force, \(m\) is mass, and \(a\) is acceleration. Rearranging for acceleration gives \(a=\frac{F}{m}\). Since \(F\) is the same for all stones, acceleration \(a\) is inversely proportional to mass \(m\). That is, \(a\propto\frac{1}{m}\).

Step2: Compare the masses

We have the masses: \(m_{blue} = 19.5\space kg\), \(m_{green}=17.0\space kg\), \(m_{purple} = 20.0\space kg\), \(m_{red}=18.0\space kg\), \(m_{yellow}=18.5\space kg\).
The order of masses from smallest to largest is \(m_{green}

Step3: Determine the order of accelerations

Since \(a\propto\frac{1}{m}\), the order of accelerations from largest to smallest (because as \(m\) increases, \(a\) decreases) is the reverse of the order of masses.

Answer:

green, red, yellow, blue, purple