A book falls off a table and accelerates until it hits the ground.Explain why the book speeds up.
Question
A book falls off a table and accelerates until it hits the ground. Explain why the book speeds up.
Solution
The book speeds up due to the force of gravity. Here's a step-by-step explanation:
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Initially, when the book is on the table, it is at rest and its speed is zero.
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Once the book falls off the table, there is no longer any support force from the table counteracting the force of gravity.
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The force of gravity then acts on the book, pulling it downwards towards the center of the Earth.
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This force causes the book to accelerate, or increase its speed, in the direction of the force. In this case, the direction is downwards.
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The book continues to accelerate until it hits the ground, at which point the ground exerts an equal and opposite force, stopping the book's motion.
This is a basic explanation based on Newton's laws of motion. The key point is that the force of gravity causes the book to accelerate downwards when it is not counteracted by any other force.
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