II: NEWTON'S SECOND LAW OF MOTION
Newton's second law of motion is also known as the LAW OF INERTIA. It says that when a force is applied to an object, it causes it to accelerate. The greater the force applied, the greater the acceleration. The lesser the force that is applied, the lesser the acceleration. Given the same amount of force applied to two objects of different masses, the one with the greater mass will have lesser acceleration while the object with the lesser mass will have greater acceleration. The equation F = ma is used to solve problems involving the second law of motion.
A. What does each variable mean?
F = force
m = mass
a = acceleration
B. What standard unit of measurement must be used with each variable?
F = Newtons (N)
m = kilograms (kg)
a = meters per second squared (m/s^2)