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High school physics - NGSS
Course: High school physics - NGSS > Unit 1
Lesson 1: Force, mass, and accelerationNewton's second law review
Review the key concepts, equations, and skills for Newton's second law of motion, including how to analyze motion in the x- and y-directions independently.
Key terms
| Term (symbol) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The Greek capital letter sigma. It means “sum of” or “adding up all of.” | |
| The sum of the forces. Also written as | |
| Acceleration | The rate of change of velocity per given unit of time. An object is accelerating if its velocity is changing. |
| System | The collection of objects that are of interest in a problem. Systems can be closed or open, and they can be isolated or not isolated. |
| Equilibrium | The forces in a system are balanced. When |
Equations
| Equation | Symbol breakdown | Meaning in words |
|---|---|---|
| Acceleration is the net force divided by the mass of the system. |
Newton’s second law of motion
Newton’s second law says that the acceleration and net external force are directly proportional, and there is an inversely proportional relationship between acceleration and mass. For example, a large force on a tiny object gives it a huge acceleration, but a small force on a huge object gives it very little acceleration. Also, force and acceleration are in the same direction.
The equation for Newton's second law is:
We can also rearrange the equation to solve for net force:
Where
Solving problems using Newton’s second law
To use Newton's second law, we draw a free body diagram to identify all the forces and their directions. It is helpful to align our coordinate system so that the direction of acceleration is parallel to one of our axes.
The
And for the
Newton’s second law equation can be rearranged to solve for the unknown mass, acceleration, or force.
What else should I know about Newton’s second law of motion?
- Balanced forces can cause the net force of an object to be zero. Multiple forces can act on an object. If the forces are balanced, the net force is zero and the object’s acceleration is also zero.
- There are limitations to Newton’s laws. Newton’s laws are excellent for modeling our experience of the world. When we start investigating objects that are approaching the speed of light or are on the atomic scale, Newton’s laws are no longer accurate. Physicists have had to come up with additional models for these situations.]
Want to join the conversation?
The videos on Newton Second Law of Motion only showed things in their current state; how would you show something moving, for example, accelerating North at 20 Newtons and slowing down by a Southern moving force of 15 Newtons. How would that be shown in an illustration like the ones in the video?(13 votes)
If you wanted to illustrate the object in a free body diagram, you would just draw the forces acting on it, as in the example you gave with 20N north and 15N south (similarly to how the objects were shown in the video). The object's velocity and acceleration are not included as part of a free body diagram, but I usually notate those as arrows on the side for visual convenience.(8 votes)
Hi! I'm wondering why the velocity could be non-zero when the forces are at equilibrium (F_net=0) and when the acceleration is also 0. Shouldn't velocity only be 0 (according to Newton's First Law) because the forces are balanced and acceleration doesn't exist?(3 votes)
Okay, I'm going to remind you of some things you already know: acceleration can be defined as the change in velocity over time, and if a force is being applied to something it should accelerate unless an equal and opposite force is being applied. (An equal force is being applied in the direction opposite of the original force)
If an object is moving, and there are no forces being applied to is (no friction, gravity, or any work whatsoever) then it is not accelerating, as a force is necessary for acceleration to be observed, and at the same time there are no forces, so F_net=0.
Okay, you say, but what if there are forces?
The same principle- as you know F_net=F_1+F_2+...+F_n, so if I were pushing a box along a plane with friction, applying a force of 10 N, and the friction on the box was 10 N in the opposite direction, we would say that the net force is zero, F_net=0, which means there is ALSO no acceleration, even though the box is moving, which means there is a velocity.(10 votes)
Is it possible a body can be in motion without any force?(6 votes)
If it is moving at a constant velocity, there are not any net forces.(1 vote)
- Is a light particle/wave at equilibrium: acceleration =zero?(3 votes)
- technically , yes
that's why we regard the speed of light as a constant(3 votes)
- The videos and this article cover the method for 2 and 3 dimensions but what happens in higher dimensions. Are Newton's laws applicable?(4 votes)
- No. Being that higher dimension's have more things impacting an object, such as time, Newton's equations don't work.(2 votes)
Hi, I'm new here and I want to know how to draw a free-body diagram. Does it include the use of the formula as well?(2 votes)
free body diagrams can be drawn by just analyzing the forces on the object. if you have rudimentary knowledge of which normal forces are present are which friction forces are present or which weight forces are present, the diagrams just help to visualize to put into Newton's second law(2 votes)
hello, please I would like to know when is the acceleration considered to be negative?(0 votes)
When your velocity starts to decrease, for example when a car is coming to a halt just before a traffic light (Retardation).(6 votes)
- What is the difference between inertia and equilibrium?(1 vote)
- equilibrium is when there is a net force of zero, so the forces acting upon the object equal zero but the velocity is still constant and non-zero. If velocity were zero then it would be static equilibrium. Inertia is a force that acts as a guidline to objects, it keeps them in uniform motion or rest, what makes this different from equilibrium is that when an object is acted upon by an outside force an object still has inertia because objects always have a resistence to change their motion.(3 votes)
Hello! I would like to know what is the reason for the x to be in subscript in the ΣFₓ=maₓ equation. I know superscript numbers or variables on equations or expression usually mean exponents, but I'm not sure how to read think, or refer to the subscripts variables or numbers in equations and the like.
Do they usually refer to regular multiplication, or a multiplication that takes place after all the values leading to that variable or number been calculated?
Thanks for taking the time to read this, let alone hopefully answer it!(2 votes)
What are real-life examples of unbalanced forces, and why does unbalanced force not affect speed(0 votes)
An example of unbalanced force could be, a rather unfair game of tugs-of-war, where there are 5 strong people on one side(A), contrasted to a lanky person(B) on the other. In this case, the rope will get pulled towards (A)- which seems intuitively apt as well- and poses a great example of unbalanced forces because the net force on side (A) is more than side (B)- which makes the rope veer towards side (A).
Unbalanced forces do affect speed- An unbalanced force acting on an object results in the object's motion changing. The object may change its speed (speed up or slow down), or it may change its direction. Friction is a force that resists the motion or the tendency toward motion between two objects in contact with each other.(5 votes)
