Newton's Second Law Flashcards

All 4 cards in this deck

State Newton's second law as an equation, with units.

force (N) = mass (kg) × acceleration (m/s²), i.e. F = m × a

A rocket's engines produce a constant force at take-off. What happens to its acceleration during the first few seconds, and why?

Acceleration increases, because mass decreases as fuel is burned and F = ma.

For an object of fixed mass, how is its acceleration related to the resultant force on it?

Acceleration is directly proportional to the resultant force, so doubling the force doubles the acceleration.

For a fixed resultant force, how is an object's acceleration related to its mass?

Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass, so a larger mass gives a smaller acceleration.