Question

a student tests the second law of motion by accelerating a block of ice at a rate of 3.5 m/s squared. if the ice has a mass of 12.5 kg , what force must the student apply to the ice

Answer 1

Newton's second law states that:
$F=ma$
i.e.: to accelerate an object with mass m with an acceleration of a, we must apply a force of intensity F.
In our problem, the block has a mass of m=12.5 kg, and its acceleration is $a=3.5 m/s^2$, so the force applied is
$F=(12.5 kg)(3.5 m/s^2)=43.74 N$