FORCE WORD PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

1. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier

at 2 m/sec2?
f=ma f= 66 x 2 f = 132 N
2. What is the force on a 1000 kg elevator that is falling
freely at 9.8 m/sec2?
F= ma f= 1000 x 9.8 f=9,800 n
3. What is the acceleration of a 50 kg object pushed
with a force of 500 newtons?
F= ma 500 = 50(a) a= 10 m/s2
4. The mass of a large car is 1000 kg. How much force
would be required to accelerate the car at a rate of 3
m/sec2?
F= ma f= 1000 x 3 f= 3000 N
5. A 50 kg skater pushed by a friend accelerates 5
m/sec2. How much force did the friend apply?
F = ma f= 50 x 5 f= 250 N
6. A force of 250 N is applied to an object that
accelerates at a rate of 5 m/sec2. What is the mass
of the object?
F = ma 250N=(m)5 m= 50kg
 FORCE WORD PROBLEMS

7. A bowling ball rolled with a force of 15 N accelerates at a rate of 3

m/sec2; a second ball rolled with the same force accelerates 4
m/sec2. What are the masses of the two balls?
F= ma 15N= (m)3 m=5kg 15N = (m)4 m=3.75kg

8. If a 60 kg person on a 15 kg sled is pushed with a force of 300 N,

what will be person’s
acceleration?

F=ma 300N=(60+15)(a) a=4 m/s2

9. A force of 20 N acts upon a 5 kg block. Calculate the acceleration of the

object.

F=ma 20N=5(a) a=4 m/s2

10. An object of mass 300 kg is observed to accelerate at the rate of 4

m/s2. Calculate the force required to produce this acceleration.

F=ma F=300 x 4 f= 1200N

11. An object of mass 30 kg is in free fall in a vacuum where there is no air

resistance. Determine the acceleration of the object.

Since it is in free fall and is falling due to the force of gravity.....the

acceleration will always be 9.8 m/s2
 WORK WORD PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Lejon can finish a job in 6 hours while Romel can do the same job in 3 hours. Working together, how
many hours can they finish the job?
(1/6+1/3)t=1
12t=1
t=2 hours

2. Eleven men could finish the job in 15 days. Five men started the job and four men were added at the
beginning of the sixth day. How many days will it take them to finish the job?

25+(5+4)(x−5)=165
25+9(x−5)=165
9x=185
x=20.56 days

3. It takes 1.5 hours for Tim to mow the lawn. Linda can mow the same lawn in 2 hours. How long will it
take John and Linda, work together, to mow the lawn?
t × (1 / 1.5)
t × (1 / 2)
t × (1 / 1.5) + t * (1 / 2) = 1
6 (t × (1 / 1.5) + t × (1 / 2) ) = 6
4t+3t=6
t = 6 / 7 hours = 51.5 minutes.

4. It takes 6 hours for pump A, used alone, to fill a tank of water. Pump B used alone takes 8 hours to fill
the same tank. We want to use three pumps: A, B and another pump C to fill the tank in 2 hours. What
should be the rate of pump C? How long would it take pump C, used alone, to fill the tank?

A: 1 / 6 and B: 1 / 8
2(1/6+1/8+R)=1
R = 1 / 4.8 , rate of pump C.
t × (1 / 4.8) = 1
t = 4.8 hours , the time it takes pump C to fill the tank.

5. A swimming pool can be filled by pipe A in 3 hours and by pipe B in 6 hours, each pump working on its
own. At 9 am pump A is started. At what time will the swimming pool be filled if pump B is started at 10 am?

pump A: 1 / 3 , pump B: 1 / 6
t × (1 / 3) + (t - 1) × (1 / 6) = 1
t = 7 / 3 hours = 2.3 hours = 2 hours 20 minutes.
9 + 2:20 = 11:20
 POTENTIAL WORD PROBLEMS

1. A fruit hangs from a tree and is about to fall to the ground of 10 meters height. It
has a potential energy of 22.5 J. Calculate the mass of the fruit
M = PE / (g x h) = 22.5 / (9.8 x 10) = 0.229 kg
Mass is 0.229 kg

2. 5 kg weighing cat climbing at the top of the tree has a potential energy of 1176 kg.
Find the height of the tree?
H = PE / (m x g) = 1176 / (9.8 x 5) = 24 cm
the height of the tree is 24 cm

3. An object of mass 30 kgs is placed on a hill top of height 80m. What is the potential
energy possessed by the object?

PE = m x g x h

= 30 x 9.8 x 80

= 23520 J

4. A crane lifts a 75kg mass a height of 8 m. Calculate the gravitational

potential energy gained by the mass
(g = 9.8 N/kg).
5. A man climbs on to a wall that is 3.6m high and gains 2268J of potential energy. What is the
mass of the man?
Ep = mgh
m= Ep gh = 2268
10x3.6
= 2268
36
= 63
So the mass of the man is 63kg.
 KINETIC ENERGY PRACTICE PROBLEMS

1. What is the Kinetic Energy of a 150 kg object that is moving with a

speed of 15 m/s?
KE = ½ mv2 KE = ? m = 150kg v = 15m/s
KE = ½ (150kg) (15 m/s)2 KE = ½ (150kg)(225)
KE = 16875J

2. An object has a kinetic energy of 25 J and a mass of 34 kg , how

fast is the object moving?
KE = ½ mv2 KE = 25J m = 34kg v=?
2KE/m = v2 OR v2 = 2KE/m v2 = 2(25J)/34kg v2 = 1.47
v = 1.28m/s

3. An object moving with a speed of 35 m/s and has a kinetic energy

of 1500 J, what is the mass of the object?
KE = ½ mv2 KE = 1500J m=? v = 35m/s
2KE/v2 = m OR m = 2KE/v2
m = 2(1500J)/(35)2 m = 3,000/1225 m = 2.45kg

4. What is the Kinetic Energy of a 1200 kg object that is moving with

a speed of 24 m/s?
KE = ½ mv2 KE = ? m = 1200kg
v = 24m/s KE = ½ (1200kg) (24 m/s)2
KE = ½ (1200kg)(576)) KE = 345,600J

5. An object has a kinetic energy of 14 J and a mass of 17 kg , how

fast is the object moving?
KE = ½ mv2 KE = 14J m = 17kg v = ? 2KE/m = v2 OR
v2 = 2KE/m v2 = 2(14J)/17kg v2 = 1.65
v = 1.28m/s