jasonbans said:
The mass of the student and cart affects their motion by determining their combined inertia, or resistance to changes in motion. The greater the mass, the greater the inertia, making it more difficult to change their state of motion.
When the student jumps off the cart, the cart will experience a change in motion due to the conservation of momentum. The cart will move in the opposite direction of the student's jump, with a speed dependent on the mass and velocity of the student.
According to Newton's Third Law of Motion, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that the force exerted by the student on the cart is equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction, to the force exerted by the cart on the student.
No, the student and cart cannot move with a constant velocity as there is a net force acting on the system due to the weight of the student and cart. In order to have a constant velocity, the net force on the system must be zero.
The acceleration of the cart will change as the student moves around on it. The direction of the acceleration will depend on the direction of the net force on the system, which is determined by the distribution of the student's weight on the cart. As the student moves around, the distribution of weight will change, resulting in a change in the direction and magnitude of the net force and therefore the acceleration of the cart.
