Newton's Second Law

Define acceleration

Definition includes the direction of the acceleration.

Then the Second Law is:
The net external force F acting on a material object is related to the mass m of the object and its acceleration a by

F = ma
or
a = F/m


A force of 1 Newton applied to a body with a mass of 1 kilogram produces an acceleration of 1 meter/second.
How much acceleration do you get if you apply a force of 3 N to a 1 kg body?
How much acceleration do you get if you apply a force of 1 N to a 3 kg body?


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Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA soper@bovine.uoregon.edu