Newton's Second Law of Motion
by SciMadeSensible
Creative Commons Wednesday November 17, 2010
Newton's Second Law of Motion
F=ma
Newton's second law of motion says that FORCE equals MASS times ACCELERATION
F=ma
This type of equation tells you that if you increase one part of the equation, another part has to change also!
F=ma
Here is an example: lets say you want to launch your friend off the see-saw by dropping a bag of rocks
50kg
50kg of mass will accelerate due to gravity, and hit the see-saw with a certain amount of Force
Force= 50kg x 9.8m/s
F=ma
2
Force = 490 N
It wasn't enough force to launch him off the see-saw, so you need to increase the force in one of two ways: increase the MASS or the ACCELERATION
yawn...
F=ma
Since the acceleration from gravity is always the same, you need to increase the mass.
100kg
F=ma
9.8m/s
2
Now the force will be larger!
Force= 100kg x 9.8m/s Force = 980 N
2
F=ma
100kg
Look! It worked!!
AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
100kg
Of course, there are other ways you can change different parts of the equation. By changing one part, you always change another part.
Can any of you give an example?
F=ma
