Newton's Second Law: F=ma

Cliff Notes

I. Newton's 2nd Law

A. acceleration ~ force (as you increase force, you increase acceleration)

acceleration ~ 1/mass (as you decrease mass, you increase acceleration)

a ~ F/m --> a = F/m

II. Examples

Ex1: A shopping cart is pushed by a little girl. The acceleration of the shopping cart is 4 m/s2. The shopping

cart is empty and has a mass of 1 kg. What force did the girl push the cart with? 4 N

Ex2: The girl decides to buy lots of ice cream. The mass of the cart increases, and it now has a mass of 5 kg. If

the girl pushes the cart with a force of 10 N, what is the acceleration? 2 m/s²

Attachments

Newton's 2nd Law Practice - Practice problems for learning Newton's 2nd Law