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A box experiences a 20 N force to the left and two different 8 N forces to the right, is that will accelerate to the right, to the left, or will not accelerate at all

Answer :

Answer:

that the acceleration is negative therefore it is directed to the left.

Explanation:

To find the acceleration of a system we must use Newton's second law

          ∑ F = m a

To apply this equation to our case we set a reference system where the direction to the right is positive.

We have 3 forces, a force F₁ = -20 N, a negative sign indicates that it is directed to the left, two forces F₂ and F₃ of magnitude 8N each directed to the right.

We substitute

            -F₁ + F₂ + F₃ = m a

           - 20 +8 + 8 = m a

             -4 = m a  

             a = -4 / m

Here we can see that the acceleration is negative therefore it is directed to the left.

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