What is a fan cart physics?

This is a classic physics problem that you can explore by using simple materials to build a low-friction cart with a removable motor and sail. The Fan Cart provides an elegant demonstration of action-reaction pairs described in Newton’s Third Law, and can also be used to demonstrate other aspects of force and motion.

How many forces are acting on the fan cart?

two forces
In this situation, there are two forces exerted on the cart: air pushing backward on the fan, and air pushing forward on the sail. These two forces balance each other, and the cart does NOT move!

How does a fan cart work?

A large fan is placed on a cart with low-friction wheels. The fan is turned on and the cart moves backward, as expected. If a large “sail” (rectangular card) is attached so that the air from the fan strikes it perpendicularly, the system will not move.

How did doubling the mass affect the acceleration of the cart?

How did doubling the mass affect the acceleration of the cart? The mass units made the cart accelerate slower.

What exerts the thrust force acting on the cart?

Answer: By Newton’s third law, there must exist an equal and opposite force on the Propeller due to the Air: FPA. This force is called Thrust. From now on, we will use the word “thrust” to denote the force exerted on the cart by the air when the propeller is turning.

How did doubling the force affect the acceleration of the cart?

The acceleration is equal to the net force divided by the mass. If the net force acting on an object doubles, its acceleration is doubled.

What happens to the horizontal speed while your hand is pushing on the cart?

During the contact interaction between the cart and the hand, the hand provides a push which causes the car’s speed to continue to increase until the hand is removed (and there is no longer a contact interaction).

What are the forces that make objects move?

Forces include gravity, friction, and applied force. Force causes changes in the speed or direction of motion. These changes are called acceleration.

What happened to the acceleration of the cart as the weight on the holder increased?

Adding mass to the cart causes it to take more time to hit the barrier. Its velocity and therefore acceleration have decreased.

What is the relationship of the hanging mass to the acceleration of the cart?

The weight of the hanging mass provides tension in the string, which helps to accelerate the cart along the track. A small frictional force will resist this motion.

How does mass affect the acceleration of a fan cart?

we see that two things affect the acceleration of a cart: the applied force and its mass. For example, a more massive cart will require a greater force in order to achieve the same acceleration as a less massive cart. In this experiment, the force used to accelerate the cart is applied by a fan motor.