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Starstudent03
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An elephant on a frictionless flat surface is tied to paper clip hanging off the side of the surface. What is total acceleration of the system?
Acceleration is the rate at which an object's velocity changes over time. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction.
Acceleration can be calculated by dividing the change in an object's velocity by the time it took for that change to occur. This is represented by the equation: a = (vf - vi) / t, where a is acceleration, vf is final velocity, vi is initial velocity, and t is time.
The acceleration of an object depends on its mass and the amount of force applied to it. Since an elephant has a much larger mass than a paper clip, it would require a greater force to accelerate it at the same rate as the paper clip. However, due to gravity, both objects will experience the same acceleration when falling in a vacuum.
On Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is approximately 9.8 m/s². This means that both the elephant and the paper clip would experience the same acceleration of 9.8 m/s² when falling towards the ground.
The main factor that affects acceleration is the amount of force applied to an object. The mass of an object also plays a role, as objects with greater mass require more force to accelerate at the same rate. Other factors that can affect acceleration include air resistance, friction, and the shape of the object.