Saturday 15 January 2011

Without force, I can still move...

Just not start or stop, in other words accelerate. I'd be going on and on forever. Luckily there's forces such as friction to stop me doing this. However, it is interesting (or at least I think so,) that I can still move at a constant speed without a resultant force. It is only when forces are unbalanced, (skewed in one direction) that I will accelerate, either with a positive or negative magnitude. This is the essence of Newton's first law.

His second law covers this too, with the simple equation F= ma (Resultant force = mass x acceleration)

If my F= 0, it is clear to see that I will not accelerate.

What I think is more important about this second law is that it links acceleration to mass, and thus gives mass (a very hard concept to explain) a definition (though there are several); the measure of an objects resistance to acceleration.

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