Question

. A woman exerts a force of 500 N straight up to lift a 35 kg basket. What is the acceleration of the basket?

Answer 1

According to the second Newton's law, the acceleration is given as follows:

$$a = \dfrac{F-mg}{m}$$

where $F = 500N$ is the exerted force, $mg$ is the gravity force ('-' sign since exerted force and gravity force have opposite directions), $m = 35kg$ is the mass of the basket, and $g = 9.8m/s^2$ is the gravitational acceleration. Thus, obtain:

$$a = \dfrac{F}{m} - g = \dfrac{500N}{35kg} - 9.8\dfrac{m}{s^2} \approx 4.5 m/s^2$$

Answer. 4.5 m/s^2.