Newton's Second Law of Motion describes the relationship between an object's mass, the net force acting upon it, and its acceleration. Specifically, it states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. The equation that expresses this is Force = mass x acceleration (F=ma). According to this law, a baseball that is thrown with greater force will experience a higher acceleration than one that is tossed gently, as the greater force applied results in a greater acceleration even though their masses are the same.

1. Newton’s Second Law of Motion

2. Force, Mass, & Acceleration How does force cause motion to change? What is the difference between throwing a baseball and tossing one gently? In both examples they start at rest. One has a faster velocity than the other. Which one has a greater acceleration, the baseball thrown or the baseball gently tossed?

3. Force, Mass, & Acceleration The greater the force applied to an object, the greater the acceleration will be. AKA – the harder the baseball is thrown the faster it will accelerate.

4. Force & Mass If you throw a cotton ball and a baseball as hard as you can, why don’t they have the same speed? Because of their different masses. The acceleration of an object depends on its mass as well as the force applied to it. Force, mass, and acceleration are all connected. Newton’s Second Law of motion describes this relationship!

5. Newton’s Second Law of Motion Net force is the combination of all the forces acting on the object. Newton’s Second Law of Motion states: The acceleration produced by a net force on an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, is in the same direction as the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

6. Newton’s Second Law of Motion In other words… How much an object accelerates depends on the mass of the object and how much force is applied to it. The equation for this is: Force = mass x acceleration F=ma

7. Newton’s Second Law of Motion Force is measured in Newtons Force = mass x acceleration 1 Newton = kg x m/s 2

8. Newton’s Second Law of Motion If a baseball is thrown at 150 m/s 2 and its mass is .50 kg what force is necessary to change its direction? a = 150 m/s 2 m = .50 kg F = ? F = ma F = (.50 kg)(150 m/s 2 ) F = 75 kg m = 75 N s 2