Disclaimer: This is a post for the absence I had on February 3, 2016, thus I was unable to make an activity blog due for the following week.

What is Newton’s Second Law?

Newton’s Second Law of Motion states that given that forces are unbalanced, there will be this particular impact on acceleration as a whole. This conception is based on both a directly proportional and inverse relationship. Inverse and directly proportional are essential vocabulary going forward in order to fully comprehend equations, and in this case, Newton’s Second Law. The acceleration depends on TWO variables. These two variables happen to be the net force and the object’s mass. But what is net force, and what is mass? Net force is the sum of all the forces acting on a physical entity, and the mass is simply put the stuff, or the matter that makes up a given physical entity (physicsclassroom.com).

How are Net Force and Mass Related?

The acceleration of an object is, in reference to its net force, are directly proportional. What does this mean? This basically means in short when the acceleration increases so does the net force, and vice versa. The acceleration of an object in reference to its mass is inversely proportional which means if the acceleration increases, the mass decreases and vice versa (physicsclassroom.com).

The Basic Equation

Acceleration= Fnet/Mass or in other words a=Fnet/m

An essential part of formulas in general, is manipulating them in order to yield a different given result by manipulating different variables. Does this seem confusing? Well I promise you it is not. The equation seen above can be manipulated in two different ways, or if that makes things seem complicated one can just use it in its original form and manipulate it in order to get another designated variable other than acceleration. The two other ways to utilize the equation Acceleration=Fnet/Mass include Fnet=mxa, and m=Fnet/a (physicsclassroom.com).

In order to delve into seeing Newton’s Second Law in a real life example lets take a look at American Football and its use of Newton’s Second Law in relation to the impulse which is, Force x Change in time (Newton’s Second Law NFL).

Things To Consider

According to physicsclassroom.com, “Whatever alteration is made of the net force, the same change will occur with the acceleration. Double, triple or quadruple the net force, and the acceleration will do the same. On the other hand, whatever alteration is made of the mass, the opposite or inverse change will occur with the acceleration. Double, triple or quadruple the mass, and the acceleration will be one-half, one-third or one-fourth its original value”. What does this necessarily mean to someone not familiar with physics or the concept behind inverse, and directly proportional relationships? Well considering net force and acceleration are directly proportional if we say there is a net force of 10 Newtons, and a mass of two kilograms the acceleration would have to be 5 m/s/s due to the fact that 10/2= 5 m/s/s. This example is from physicsclassroom.com as well. In this scenario we are simply plugging in each value to find the acceleration.

What we need to think about is what do we take from this information? What does this provide for us? If we know the acceleration to an object we automatically know its net force, because they are directly proportional. This is in relationship to direction. Acceleration has a direction, and so does net force, so if we have one of them we know the other. For example if the acceleration is increasing upward, so would the net force (physicsclassroom.com).

Now How Does This Relate to Energy?

According to University of Illinois, Newtons and joules can be connected directly. The Force is the same direction as the kinetic energy, thus create a positive correlation. As one increases, so does the other, and vice versa. When a force is applied to a mass, then in turn the individual is changing the momentum of the mass, and acceleration represents that change to that constant mass. It has to do with direction, and the mere fact that the energy is being transferred in the same direction in which the force is being applied.

 

LINKS:

Physics Classroom

University of Illinois

NFL Newton’s Second Law