Acceleration = ?
Most recent answer: 05/16/2013
Q:
What affects acceleration?
- Tani (age 14)
Waterbury, CT
- Tani (age 14)
Waterbury, CT
A:
According to Newton, acceleration equals force divided by mass. The force can come from many different sources: gravity, electric and magnetic field forces on charged particles, friction, tensions in strings, etc. The usual way of expressing it in standard textbooks is F = MA.
Another, separate, question is 'What is mass?'. In a rather circular argument, mass is defined as that quantity that resists acceleration due to force. On earth, mass can be related to the amount of force on a weight scale. In outer space however, scales don't work So you have to go back to the original definition M = F/A.
LeeH
Another, separate, question is 'What is mass?'. In a rather circular argument, mass is defined as that quantity that resists acceleration due to force. On earth, mass can be related to the amount of force on a weight scale. In outer space however, scales don't work So you have to go back to the original definition M = F/A.
LeeH
(published on 05/16/2013)