Question

1. a cruise ship and a small cube of ice float next to one another in the ocean. when you press on the cube of ice it quickly moves away from you. when you press on the cruise ship with the same force almost nothing happens. which of newtons laws explains this, and how?

Explanation:

Newton's second law \(F = ma\) (where \(F\) is force, \(m\) is mass, and \(a\) is acceleration) explains this. The force \(F\) applied is the same for both the ice cube and the cruise - ship. The mass \(m\) of the cruise - ship is much larger than the mass of the ice cube. Rearranging the formula for acceleration \(a=\frac{F}{m}\), since \(F\) is constant, a larger \(m\) (mass of cruise - ship) results in a smaller \(a\) (acceleration). So the ice cube (with smaller \(m\)) has a larger acceleration and moves away easily, while the cruise - ship (with larger \(m\)) has a very small acceleration (so it seems like nothing happens).

Answer:

Newton's second law (\(F = ma\)) explains this. The force \(F\) is the same. For the ice cube (small \(m\)), \(a=\frac{F}{m}\) is large. For the cruise - ship (large \(m\)), \(a=\frac{F}{m}\) is small.