Net Force Calculation on a Kayak

How can we calculate the magnitude of the net force acting on a kayak?

A person in a kayak starts paddling, and it accelerates from 0 to 0.475 m/s in a distance of 0.390 m. If the combined mass of the person and the kayak is 68.6 kg, what is the magnitude of the net force acting on the kayak?

Calculation of Net Force on a Kayak

The resulting acceleration was used to calculate the net force acting on the kayak using the formula F=ma, with the given mass and the calculated acceleration. The calculated net force is 39.74 N.

To calculate the net force acting on the kayak, we can use the second law of motion which is Newton's Law (F=ma).

But first, we have to find the acceleration.

Acceleration can be calculated using the formula v² = u² + 2as,

where 'v' is the final velocity,

'u' is the initial velocity,

'a' is the acceleration, and

's' is the distance moved.

Given: v = 0.475 m/s, u = 0 m/s, s = 0.390 m.

Inserting these values into the formula, we can solve for 'a':

(0.475 m/s)² = (0 m/s)² + 2a(0.390 m),

thus yielding the acceleration 'a' as 0.579 m/s².

Now, we can use F=ma to calculate the net force acting on the kayak. Given: m = 68.6 kg and a = 0.579 m/s².

Inserting these values into the formula we get

F=(68.6 kg)(0.579 m/s²) = 39.7434 N,

which is the magnitude of the net force acting on the kayak, rounded off to 39.74 N for simplicity.