Newton’s Second Law Of Motion

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Newton’s Second Law of Motion


Newton's second law of motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces are not balanced. The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables - the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. As learned in the "The Rocket Simulation" Lab, the acceleration of an object depends directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object. As the force of propulsion acting upon the rocket-chair increased, the acceleration of the rocket-chair increased. As the mass of the rocket-chair increased, the acceleration of the rocket-chair decreased (Glenbrook 1).
Newton's second law of motion can be formally stated as the acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. The direction of the net force is in the same direction as the acceleration. Thus, if the direction of the acceleration is known, then the direction of the net force is also known. Consider the two ticker tape traces below for an acceleration of a car. From the trace, determine the direction of the net force which is acting upon the car. Then depress the mouse on the "pop-up menu" to view the answer (Glenbrook 1).
Furthermore, the qualitative relationship between mass and acceleration can be seen by a comparison of the numerical values in the above table. Observe from rows 2 and 3 that a doubling of the mass results in a "halving" of the acceleration (if force is held constant). And similarly, rows 4 and 5 show that a "halving" of the mass results in a doubling of the acceleration (if force is held constant). Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass (Glenbrook 2).
In conclusion, Newton's second law provides the explanation for the behavior of objects upon which the fo...