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What is a resultant force
A single force that has the same effect as multiple forces acting on an object
What is Newton’s first law of motion?
A resultant force is needed to make something start moving, speed up, or slow down; if the resultant force on a stationary object is zero, the object will remain stationary, and if the resultant force on a moving object is zero, it’ll carry on moving at the same velocity (same speed and direction)
Based on Newton’s first law, what does it mean when a vehicle is moving at a constant velocity?
The resistive and driving forces on it must all be balanced (the velocity will only change if there’s a non-zero resultant force acting on the object
What does a non-zero resultant force always produce?
Acceleration or deceleration in the direction of the force
How does Newton’s first law help to describe circular motion?
If an object is travelling in a circular orbit (a constant speed), it’s constantly changing direction, so it’s constantly changing velocity, meaning it’s accelerating - this means there’s a resultant force constantly acting on it, the force acts towards the centre of the circle, the force keeping something moving in a circle is called a centripetal force
What happens to an object as the resultant force acting on it increases?
The object accelerates - the force and the acceleration are directly proportional; written as F∝a
What is acceleration inversely proportional to?
The mass of the object - an object with a larger mass will accelerate less than an object with a smaller mass (for a fixed resultant force)
What is the formula for Newton’s second law?
F = m x a
What does ‘F’ represent in the Newton’s second law equation?
Resultant force (N)
What does ‘m’ represent in the Newton’s second law equation?
Mass (kg)
What does ‘a' represent in the Newton’s second law equation?
Acceleration (m/s2)
