---
title: "A student pulls a block horizontally across a rough horizontal surface by applying a horizontal force of variable magnitude \\(F\\). A motion sensor records the resulting acceleration \\(a\\) of the block as a function of \\(F\\) while the block is sliding. The resulting graph is shown. Assume the acceleration due to gravity is \\(g = 10 \\text{ m/s}^2\\). Which of the following statements correctly interprets the graph to determine the physical properties of the block and surface?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/122254/"
date_modified: "2026-09-27T13:13:42+00:00"
---

# A student pulls a block horizontally across a rough horizontal surface by applying a horizontal force of variable magnitude \(F\). A motion sensor records the resulting acceleration \(a\) of the block as a function of \(F\) while the block is sliding. The resulting graph is shown. Assume the acceleration due to gravity is \(g = 10 \text{ m/s}^2\). Which of the following statements correctly interprets the graph to determine the physical properties of the block and surface?

A student pulls a block horizontally across a rough horizontal surface by applying a horizontal force of variable magnitude \(F\). A motion sensor records the resulting acceleration \(a\) of the block as a function of \(F\) while the block is sliding. The resulting graph is shown. Assume the acceleration due to gravity is \(g = 10 \text{ m/s}^2\). Which of the following statements correctly interprets the graph to determine the physical properties of the block and surface?

![A 2D Cartesian graph with a quantitative grid. The horizontal axis is labeled applied force F (N) with major tick marks at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16. The vertical axis is labeled acceleration a (m/s^2) with major tick marks at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Grid lines are spaced every 2 units horizontally and every 1 unit vertically. A single solid straight line begins at the horizontal intercept (6, 0) and extends upward and to the right with constant positive slope, passing exactly through the grid intersections (10, 2) and (14, 4), and terminating at (16, 5). No other curves, shaded regions, arrows, or text annotations appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-graph-1-1790514822-85xetx.jpg)

- **A.** The slope of the line equals the mass of the block (\(0.50 \text{ kg}\)), and the horizontal axis intercept represents the minimum force required to overcome inertia in the absence of friction.
- **B.** The magnitude of the vertical axis intercept represents the kinetic friction force (\(3.0 \text{ N}\)), and the area under the line between \(F = 6.0 \text{ N}\) and \(F = 14.0 \text{ N}\) equals the total change in kinetic energy of the block.
- **C.** The inverse of the slope yields a block mass of \(2.0 \text{ kg}\), and the horizontal axis intercept indicates a kinetic friction force of \(6.0 \text{ N}\), which corresponds to a coefficient of kinetic friction of \(0.30\).
- **D.** The mass of the block is \(3.5 \text{ kg}\) calculated from the ratio \(\dfrac{F}{a} = \dfrac{14.0 \text{ N}}{4.0 \text{ m/s}^2}\), and the horizontal axis intercept represents the net force acting on the block when acceleration begins.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/122254/*