Question

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you and some friends are at the park. you find some rope and decide youd like to play a game of tug - of - war. unfortunately, there are 5 people so you cant have an equal amount of people on each side. one of your friends suggests that the two biggest people should be on one side, while the three smaller people should be on the other side. do you think this is a fair way to split up teams? why or why not? question: what causes objects to move or stay still? open up phet simulation \forces and motion.\ https://phetcolorado.edu/en/simulation/forces - and - motion - basics task 1 a. place 2 people that are the same size the same distance away from the cart. b. make a prediction about the movement of the cart. c. after you have observed the actual movement, click on the sum of the forces and values box at the top right hand corner of the simulation. record the number in the data chart.

Explanation:

According to Newton's first law of motion, an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. In the case of the tug - of - war, if the two biggest people are on one side and three smaller people on the other, it is likely that the forces are not balanced. The two biggest people may exert a larger force (assuming they can pull with more force due to their size, which is a simplification as force also depends on technique etc.). If the sum of forces on one side is greater than the other, the rope (and the cart in the simulation analogy) will move towards the side with the greater force. For the simulation task:

• When two people of the same size are at the same distance from the cart (same placement on the rope in the tug - of - war analogy), they exert equal forces in opposite directions.
• Prediction: The cart will stay still.
• Actual movement: None.
• Sum of forces: \(0\) (because the forces from the two people cancel each other out, \(F_1=-F_2\), so \(F_{net}=F_1 + F_2=0\)).

Answer:

Predicted Movement: The cart will stay still.
Actual Movement: None.
Sum of Forces: \(0\)