Skip to main content

Newton's 2nd Law

Table of Contents

$$F = ma$$

Where \(F\) is the net force being applied to the object, \(m\) is the mass of the object, and \(a\) is the acceleration of the object.

Newton’s second law is a statement of Newtonian mechanics that the net force on a body is equal to the body’s mass times its acceleration.

Sources #

Example #

Kevin pushes his 10 kg brain across the floor with a force of 100 N. Friction pushes back against his brain statically with 10 N of force. What is the acceleration of the brain?

$$ F = ma \Longrightarrow a = \frac{F}{m} = \frac{100N - 10N}{10kg} = 9.8 m/s^2 $$