Question

1. a watermelon is balanced by a dog, a pumpkin, a flowerpot, and a baseball as shown below. which statement or statements are true?

the mass of the watermelon is equal to the mass of the flowerpot, baseball, dog and pumpkin combined.
the weight of the watermelon is equal to the weight of the flowerpot, baseball, dog and pumpkin combined.
both a and b are true.
neither a or b is true.

Explanation:

• Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object. Weight is the force exerted on an object due to gravity (\(W = mg\), where \(m\) is mass and \(g\) is the acceleration due to gravity).
• When two sides of a balance are in equilibrium, the downward - acting forces (weights) are equal. Since \(W = mg\) and \(g\) is constant (assuming we are on the same planet, near - surface conditions), if \(W_1=W_2\), then \(m_1g = m_2g\) (where \(W_1\) is the weight of the watermelon and \(W_2\) is the combined weight of the dog, pumpkin, flowerpot, and baseball), and we can cancel out \(g\) (non - zero value) to get \(m_1=m_2\).

Answer:

C. Both A and B are true.