Question

The force (F) needed to cause the acceleration (a) of an object of mass, m, is given by the equation, F=ma where m is the object’s mass. If a 12-Newton force causes the object to accelerate to 3 m/s2, what is that object’s mass? The unit for this mass is kg.

Answer 1

From Newton’s Second Law of Motion, the force needed to accelerate a moving object of mass m at acceleration a is given by ;

F = ma

In this case, m = 5kg, a = 6m/s^2 and we want to find F

F = 5 x 6

F = 30N

Therefore, a force of 30N is needed to accelerate a 5kg object at 6m/s^2.