Question. If the rocket sled shown in the previous problem starts with only one rocket burning, what is the magnitude of this acceleration? Assume that the mass of the system is $2.10 \times 10^{3} \mathrm{~kg}$, the thrust T is $2.40 \times 10^{4} \mathrm{~N}$, and the force of friction opposing the motion is 650.0 N . (b) Why is the acceleration not onefourth of what it is with all rockets burning?

Studdy Solution
Explain why the acceleration is not one-fourth of the acceleration with all rockets burning:
The acceleration is not one-fourth of the acceleration with all rockets burning because the force of friction is a constant value that does not scale with the number of rockets. When all rockets are burning, the total thrust is significantly higher, but the friction remains the same. Thus, the net force and resulting acceleration do not scale linearly with the number of rockets.
The magnitude of the acceleration with one rocket burning is approximately $11.12 \, \text{m/s}^2$.