Two springs push a mass on a frictionless horizontal surface from opposite sides: left spring exerts 5 N toward the right, right spring exerts 3 N toward the left. What is the net force on the mass and its direction?

Two springs push a mass on a frictionless horizontal surface from opposite sides: left spring exerts 5 N toward the right, right spring exerts 3 N toward the left. What is the net force on the mass and its direction?

• A. 2 N to the left
• B. 8 N to the right
• C. 2 N to the right
• D. 0 N

Answer: (C)

Net force is the combination of all forces acting on an object; when forces push from opposite sides, you subtract the smaller from the larger and keep the direction of the larger force. Here, the left spring pushes to the right with 5 N, and the right spring pushes to the left with 3 N. The net force is 5 N minus 3 N, giving 2 N in the rightward direction. On a frictionless surface, the mass will accelerate in that same direction with a magnitude proportional to this net force. The remaining options don’t fit because the forces are not equal, so they don’t cancel to zero, and you don’t add the magnitudes as if they were in the same direction. The correct result is a 2 N net force toward the right.

Net force is the combination of all forces acting on an object; when forces push from opposite sides, you subtract the smaller from the larger and keep the direction of the larger force. Here, the left spring pushes to the right with 5 N, and the right spring pushes to the left with 3 N. The net force is 5 N minus 3 N, giving 2 N in the rightward direction. On a frictionless surface, the mass will accelerate in that same direction with a magnitude proportional to this net force. The remaining options don’t fit because the forces are not equal, so they don’t cancel to zero, and you don’t add the magnitudes as if they were in the same direction. The correct result is a 2 N net force toward the right.