Question

How is the acceleration of an object in Newton's second law related to its mass and the net force on it?
A. acceleration is directly proportional to the mass of the object
B. acceleration is inversely proportional to the net force acting
C. acceleration is directly proportional to mass divided by net force
D. acceleration is directly proportional to net force divided by mass

***I think it's C! is that correct? :)

Answer 1

You're close, but it isn't C.

Answer 2

What is newtons second law? state that first

Answer 3

and solve for the acceleration a

Answer 4

Let's first recall the statement of the 2nd Law:
F = ma

Let's first consider the connection between F and a.
We see there is a linear relationship here.
If we double the F, then a doubles as well.

Answer 5

aww okay, so would it be A or D right? because acceleration is not inversely proportional?

Answer 6

okay:)

Answer 7

If we do a little algebra here and solve for a, we get:
\[a \space = \frac{ F }{ m }\]

Answer 8

For that matter, acceleration is inversely proportional to mass, force is directly proportional to acceleration.

Answer 9

In this force, we see that a is proportional to the force F divided by the mass m.
And looking at our choices, this is exactly the same as choice (D).

Answer 10

and so would it be D? since newton's second law states that acceleration is dependent on the net force and mass? and choice A only mentions mass? :/

Answer 11

ahh okay:) that makes sense:)

thank you all!!

Answer 12

Right, it should be D.