Question

1. officials are looking into three different ski accidents. the accidents happened when three skiers (all with the same mass) were skiing across flat, snowy ground. they were each bumped by another skier, but not all from the same direction. these skiers changed speed as a result of being bumped. use the information in the diagram to answer. which skier(s) experienced the strongest force when bumped? how do you know?

a the skiers in the yellow and purple sweaters: they both gained the same force as they sped up, but the skier in the red sweater lost force and slowed down.
b the skier in the yellow sweater experienced the strongest force because he has the fastest ending speed.
c all three skiers experienced the same strength force because they changed speed by the same amount.
d the skier in the red sweater because it takes a stronger force to slow something down than to speed it up.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the relationship between force and acceleration

According to Newton's second law \(F = ma\) (where \(F\) is force, \(m\) is mass, and \(a\) is acceleration). Since the skiers have the same mass, the force is directly proportional to the acceleration. The greater the change in speed (acceleration), the greater the force.

Step2: Compare the speed - change of skiers

The skier in the red sweater slowed down (negative acceleration), while the skiers in yellow and purple sweaters sped up (positive acceleration). The magnitude of the change in speed (acceleration) for the skier in red is the largest among them. According to \(F = ma\) (\(m\) is the same), the skier in the red sweater experienced the strongest force.

Answer:

d. The skier in the red sweater because it takes a stronger force to slow something down than to speed it up.