Study for the Kaplan Nursing Entrance Exam. Dive into questions with detailed explanations and hints to enhance your understanding. Prepare strategically for a successful exam experience!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.


What can be said about a vehicle traveling at a constant speed on the highway?

  1. Its acceleration rate is negative

  2. The net forces acting on the vehicle are positive

  3. The force applied by the vehicle's drive wheels is greater than the forces acting to slow the vehicle

  4. All of the above are correct

The correct answer is: All of the above are correct

When a vehicle is traveling at a constant speed on the highway, a few key principles of physics apply. Firstly, constant speed means that the vehicle's velocity does not change; therefore, its acceleration is zero. Since acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, the acceleration rate cannot be negative if the speed remains constant. For the net forces acting on the vehicle, when the speed is constant, the forces are in equilibrium. This means that the total forces acting on the vehicle in one direction (such as the drive force) precisely balance the total forces acting in the opposite direction (such as friction and air resistance). If the net forces were positive, it would indicate that the vehicle is accelerating, which contradicts the information given. Moreover, if the force from the vehicle's drive wheels were greater than the opposing forces, the vehicle would also be accelerating rather than maintaining a constant speed. Thus, while option D claims that all statements are correct, the basis for the correct understanding is that for a vehicle traveling at a constant speed, the net forces acting on it must equal zero, not point in the positive direction or indicate negative acceleration. Therefore, while the assessment might lead one to consider option D, only the understanding that acceleration is actually zero aligns