Question

Newton’s second law of motion is F=ma A net force of 60 N north acts on an object with a of 30 kg. Use Newton’s second law of motion to calculate the amount of acceleration the object will experience. Then explain how the amount of acceleration will change if the net force or the mass of the object increases.

Answer 1

Answer: The acceleration of the object is $2m/s^2$. If net force increases, acceleration will also increase and if mass increases, the acceleration will decrease.

Explanation:

Force is defined as the product of object's mass and acceleration.

Mathematically,

$F=ma$       ......(1)

or,

$a=\frac{F}{m}$      .....(2)

where,

F = Force exerted on an object = 60N

m = mass of an object = 30kg

a = acceleration of the object = ?

Putting values in above equation, we get:

$a=\frac{60kg.m/s^2}{30kg}=2m/s^2$

The acceleration of the car is $2m/s^2$.

From equation 2, it is visible that acceleration is directly proportional to force. This means that \if force increases, acceleration also increases.

And acceleration is inversely proportional to mass of the object. This means that if mass increases, the acceleration decreases.

Hence, if net force increases, acceleration will also increase and if mass increases, the acceleration will decrease.