5 Newton's second law ‘Neweon's second law [Newton's second law of ‘motion describes how th mas ofan objet ates ‘the way t moves when acted wpon by ane oF more forces. Tis often expressed In this topic, you will learn that: > ifan object has a net free acting on it, then the object will change its speed, direction or both > Newton's second law states that ‘the acceleration of an abjectis directly related to the ‘magnitude and direction of the net force acting on the object, and inversely related to the mass of the object. Newton's second law Newton's second law states: “The acceleration of an object is directly related to *© the magnitude and direction of the net force acting on the object, and inversely related to the mass ofthe object: F= ma.’ This means a heavy object (with a lot of mass) sepemathewwalioes needs a greater force to start moving than tn the objects m=mas of lighter object. Weight is a measure of the ‘the object; a= acceleration) gravitational force acting on an object. Its Figure 1a Pedaling provides the thrust force when riding 2 bike b Braking provides a drag force. 54 (OXFORD INSIG ‘measured in newtons (N). ‘Newton's second law states: “The acceleration of an object is directly related to the magnitude and direction of the force acting on the object, and inversely related to the mass of the object” Force affects acceleration fan object experiences an unbalanced net force, the object will change its speed, direction or both. A moving ‘object will speed up (accelerate) if the net force acts on it in the same direction itis moving in. A bike ‘will speed up if you pedal harder to increase the driving force (known as thrust; see Figure 1a). ‘When the net force acts in the ‘opposite direction, the moving object will slow down (decelerate) and eventually stop. The brake adds a friction force to a moving bike "This means there isa net force in the ‘opposite direction to the bike's movement. ‘This net force causes the bike to change its speed. Ir decelerates or slows down, (Figure 1b). SCIENCE FOR NSW STAGES Ucensed to Force and mass Would you need more push force to start moving a car or to start moving a bike? A car ‘nas a greater mass than a bike; therefore, it needs a greater force to change its motion. A bike, with less mass, needs less force to change its speed. We can express this relationship ina simple ‘equation: ‘Net force = mass » acceleration This relationship ean also be expressed in a force triangle (Figure 2). You need a larger Jorce to accelerate a heavy object from rest than 1 accelerate a lighter object from rest. ‘When mass isin kilograms (kg) and the acceleration isin metres per second squared (im), the net force will be in newtons (N). ‘Acceleration and net force are both vectors and always act in the same direction, Figure 2The net force equation canbe written as ‘a tiangle. Cover the quantity you want to calculate and the other two quantities will frm the formula, ‘You need to consider al the individual forces acting on an object in order to work out the net force. Consider the yeti and bike with @ mass of 90 kg shown in Figure 3. The forwards acting thrust force is 400 N and the total drag force From aie resistance and friction is 300 N ‘rom St Benedicts Catholic College until 2025-12-31ese backwards. As a result the net force is 100 N forwards. This would produce an acceleration of L.11 mis! (100 N = 90 kg). The € increase his speed by 1.11 mis every second. Mass or weight Newton's second law also connects an ‘object's mass to its weight, We often use the term ‘weight’ to indicate how much mass something has in kilograms but, strictly speaking in physics, weight is a force not a mass, Weight acting on an object's mass is the force of gravity acting on an object. Because its a force, weight is measured in newtons. For example, gravity on the Moon is approximately 1.6 m/s? and on the Earth is approximately 10 m/s?. This means an object with a mass of 100 kg would have a ‘weight of 160 N (100 ke « 1.6 m/s") on the Moon and 1000 N (100 kg x 10 mis*) on the Earth. An object on the Moon will have less weight (N) but the same mass (kg). Weight = mass x gravitational acceleration w Check your learning 3.5 Recall and explain 1 Explain what is meant by the term ‘weight force Explain what happens to 8 ‘moving object ifit is acted on by ‘net force in the same direction 3. Deseribe what happens toa clist would Figure 3 Various forces actona cyclist. Figure 4 Weight isthe force of gravity acting nan object's mass. Weight lorcel = mass x acceleration due to gravi A net force causes a mass of a 10 kg to accelerate at 2 mis’. Caleulate the magnitude of the net force. Evaluate and create . A group of students want 10 investigate how a change of mass Friction and air resistance 300 N Ihe results of the investigation are as shown in ‘Table 1, construct a force 5s graph for these results, Calculate the gradient of the graph. ‘Table 1 Results from the will affect the acceleration of on investigation ‘moving object fits acted on object. eT by enet force inthe opposite Eien aes + direction tits motion. ‘neta! psi - : [oo Apply and analyse Outline the independent, er : 4 Compare the acceleration of a bus {ull of passengers with that of an ‘empty bus forthe same net force. 5 Explain why a bike slows down ‘on a level road when the rider stops pedalling Skill builder: Problem solving 5 Acar company has been having problems with a claim one of th dependent and controlled variables, © Write a step-by-step method to test the hypothesis, drivers made. The driver claimed that the car {driving down a hill was speeding up too much, Use a cause and effect diagram to help explain the relationships between force and acceleration. (THINK: What isthe problem? What are the main causes ofthis problem? Are there any specifi sub-eauses?) ‘xFoRD UNvERST PRESS N 35 Licensed tc m St Benedicts jege until 2025-12-31