A car has a crumple zone that is 0.80 m (80 cm) long. In this car, the distance from the dummy to the steering wheel is 0.50 m. The car has a mass of 1,600 kg and the dummy has a mass of 75 kg. At the time of the crash, the car has a speed of 18 m/s. Based on the work-energy theorem, what is the smallest possible force that the dummy could experience during the crash?

force is based upon mass and acceleration.the statement is not always true.

it can be explained from newton's second law of motion.

as per newton's second law of motion the rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the applied force and takes place along the direction of force.

mathematically it can be written as -

                                              ⇒      

here   k is the proportionality constant whose value is 1.

                                                            [a is the acceleration=dv/dt]

hence we see that force not only depends on mass and acceleration but also on velocity and rate of change of mass. force f will depend on mass and acceleration only when mass is constant.

hence the statement that force is based upon mass and acceleration is false.