Force and Acceleration

Question 1

what do unbalanced forces cause?

Answer 1

acceleration or deceleration

Question 2

what is an unbalanced force called?

Answer 2

a resultant force

Question 3

what is the equation for a resultant force?

Answer 3

resultant force, F (N) = mass, m (kg) x acceleration, a (m/s^2)

Question 4

define inertia

Answer 4

the inertial mass of an object is a measure of the difficulty of changing the object’s velocity (difficulty of changing an objects velocity)

Question 5

in the acceleration practical what is the hypothesis?

Answer 5

increasing the force will increase the acceleration of the object

Question 6

(practical) what is the control variable

Answer 6

mass of system, same trolley so drag forces are always same (air resistance and friction)

Question 7

(practical) what is the independant variable

Answer 7

force

Question 8

(practical) what is the dependant variable

Answer 8

acceleration

Question 9

what equipment is used in the practical?

Answer 9

interface, newton-meter, card fixed to trolley, interface and ?computer?

Question 10

what are the steps for this practical?

Answer 10

• use newton-meter to pull trolley along a known distance w/ a constant force
• a motion sensor and a computer can be used to record the velocity of the trolley as it accelerates

Question 11

what’s newton’s 2nd law of motion?

Answer 11

the acceleration of an object is proportional to the resultant force on the object and inversely proportional to the mass of the object

Question 12

what’s the conclusion?

Answer 12

as greater force is applied and increased, the higher the acceleration increases. acceleration is directly proportional to force