Questions: Force and Mass

Question 1

You push an empty shopping cart and a full shopping cart with the same force. Which one speeds up more?

• A. The full cart
• B. The empty cart
• C. They speed up equally
• D. Neither one moves

Answer: (B)

The empty cart has less mass, so the same force causes a bigger change in its motion. It speeds up more than the heavier full cart.

Question 2

An object with more mass is harder to push into motion.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

Mass resists changes in motion. The more mass an object has, the more force you need to get it moving or to stop it.

Question 3

What two things determine how much an object's motion changes?

Model answer: The size of the force and the mass of the object.

A larger force causes more change in motion, and a larger mass resists that change more.