Newton's Laws - Mission NL3 Detailed Help


A westward-moving object is changing its speed. The net force ...



 
Newton's First Law of Motion:
An object at rest will stay at rest; an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.


 
Forces, when unbalanced, cause objects to accelerate. And the direction of the acceleration is the same as the direction of the extra force. Just because an object is moving west does not mean there is more west force than east force. Whether the westward or the eastward force is bigger depends on whether the object is speeding up or slowing down. There must be more westward force than eastward force if an object is moving west and speeding up. There must be more eastward force than westward force if an object is moving west and slowing down. If nothing is known about whether the object is speeding up or slowing down, then one cannot conclude about the direction of the extra force.