Question

Jasmine is trying to hang a new clock in her apartment. The clock experiences a force due to the
gravity of 15N. She has a stick on a hook that exerts an upward force of 10N. Are the forces on
her clock balanced or unbalanced and what will happen to the clock?
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Answer 1

Answer:

Clock is unbalanced

Clock will fall

Explanation:

Given that :

Upward force exerted by stick = 10N

Force of gravity acting on clock (downward) = 15N

To attain equilibrium, the algebraic sum of upward forces must be equal to the sum of downward forces acting on the object.

That is;

Σupward forces = Σdownward forces

In the scenario given above ;

Σdownward force ≠ Σupward forces

15N > 10N

Hence, the body is not in a state of equlibrum and thus unbalanced,

Since the downward force is greater than upward force, the clock will fall.

There is need for an additional (15N - 10N) = 5N force acting upward for the clock to attain equlibrum.