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Newtons 2nd Law: How to Apply it to the

Real World
MAY 16, 2014 BY APRIL KLAZEMA

One of Newtons greatest

accomplishments was coming up with the three laws of motion that are
commonly known about in science today. These three laws are not just a
staple in physics, but an integral part of math, science, and various forms of
engineering as well.
Many people, when learning about Newtons laws, are unable to see how it can
be applied to real life. While the laws of physics have been proven time and
time again by countless experiments, these arent the only laws explored in
science and life. The Udemy course, How Learning the 12 Universal
Laws explores other types of laws that impact our lives.

Understanding Newtons Second Law

The second law of motion is based on the amount of energy needed to move an
object. The law states that whenever a force acts on a particular object, the
object will accelerate based on the direction of the force. The law goes on to
state that as long as the mass of an object is constant, increasing the force
exerted onto it will also increase its acceleration. On the other hand, if the

force remains constant, then the increase of the mass of the object will cause
acceleration to decrease.
This can be broken down into two statements. The first is that the force and
acceleration of an object has a direct proportion, and the mass and
acceleration of an object has an inverse proportion.

The Math Behind Newtons Second Law

The simplest way that Newtons second law is represented is through the
mathematical equation:
F = MA
This is also translated to force equals mass times acceleration. As the law was
explained above, if you multiply the mass times the acceleration of an object
you get the force that object is exerting. On the other hand, you can change
this problem around to find the mass or the acceleration of the object.
For example, you can change the equation to A = F/M or M = F/A, which
translates into acceleration equals force divided by mass or mass equals force
divided by acceleration. The three factors all connected based on Newtons
law.

Applying Newtons Second Law with Math Examples

An example of this being applied in real life would be a person who was trying
to push their car after it ran out of gas. You would have to find the force that
would be needed to push the car to the nearest gas station.
Say that you were only moving your car about 0.05 meters per second, and the
car weighed a total of 1,000 kilograms. You would be able to plug these two
numbers into the equation to see how much force you were exerting on the
car.
F = 1000 x 0.05 and you get 50, or F = 50. When you apply Newtons law and
performing math equations, you always write your results in newtons, which
mean that the correct answer for this equation would be 100 newtons.
Lets look at another situation where a horse is pulling a carriage. Instead of
figuring out that is being exerted, you will figure out the acceleration that the
horse and the carriage currently have. To do this, you will change the equation

to the one shown before, A = F/M or acceleration equals force divided by

mass. Plug in the numbers 200 newtons for force and 100 kilograms for mass.
Now all you have to do is a little bit of simply division.
A = 200/100 or the acceleration of the horse moving the carriage is 2 m/s 2,
which can also be translated to 2 meters per second squared.
As you can clearly see through the equation, making any one change to force,
acceleration, or mass can greatly change the equation. Imagine adding another
horse to the carriage and that horse exerted the same amount of force.
This means the force would be 400 instead of 200, which would double the
acceleration of the carriage to 4 meters per second squared. Now imagine
quadrupling or increasing the number of horses exponentially. Newtons
second law examples the importance of force, acceleration, and mass can be
calculated in a way that people can accurately examine how they all have an
effect on one another.
Despite the fact Newtons second law doesnt require complex mathematics;
the numbers can easily get difficult to calculate. Imagine trying to find out how
much force hundreds of people exert on an object or the acceleration of an
object that breaks the sound barrier. People in high paying engineer jobs have
to do equations like this on a constant basis.
If you want to increase your mathematic abilities to have a better
understanding of the way Newtons second law works, then you should check
out the two Udemy courses Easy Advanced Math Skills with
Formulas and Secrets of Mental Math, which are dedicated to increasing
the speed at which you do math.

Real Life Examples of Newtons Second Law

You can find examples of Newtons Second Law throughout your life. For
example, you may realize, when looking for a car that the miles per gallon of a
sports utility vehicle is always lower than that of a standard car.
The reason behind this is explained in Newtons Second Law. The mass of a
sports utility vehicle is much greater than that of a car, which means that it
requires more force to accelerate it at the same amount. If you were driving a
car 65 mph on a freeway for 40 miles, you will undoubtedly use much less
gasoline than if you were to drive at the same speed for the same distance in a
SUV.

The same thing can be applied to any moving object. Say you have a friend
who is several pounds smaller than you, but they walk exerting the same
amount of force as you. Your friend will go a good deal faster than you because
their acceleration would undoubtedly be higher.
One of the main reasons why people constantly try to reduce the mass of
objects is to be able to increase its speed and acceleration. As mentioned
before, all of the factors have an effect on each other. If something has much
more mass, then exerting more force will make it move faster. Its the reason
why a small child wont be able to throw a football the same distance as a
professional, since the child would be unable to exert the same amount of
force that the football player would.
Understanding Newtons second law is a great way to get you any person into
science. One thing that Newtons second law teaches you about is the
importance of dependent variables. In science and math, there is a very
large difference between independent and dependent variables, and
understanding that difference will allow you to do even more complex
calculations.

Delving Deeper into Physics

Newtons second law of motion is one of the fundamentals of physics. It can
help you take your understanding of physics and the way the world around
you works to levels you may not even have knew existed. One way to see how
Newtons laws works is by studying quantum physics. There is an Udemy
course, Quantum Physics: An Overview of a Weird World, which
focuses on teaching quantum physics to anyone, even if you are just a
beginner.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

Newtons first law deals with objects at rest or objects moving at constant
velocity. His second law deals with the motion of accelerating and
decelerating objects.
We know from everyday life examples such as pushing a car that if two
people push a car on a flat road it will accelerate faster than if one person
was pushing it. Thus, there is a relationship between the size of the force and
the acceleration. We also know that it is easier for two people to push a small

car than a large truck and for the same applied force the small car will
accelerate faster than a large truck. Therefore there is also a relationship
between mass and acceleration.
Experimentation proves that acceleration of a body is proportional to the
force applied. This means that acceleration doubles when the force doubles
or acceleration trebles when the force trebles, thus the greater the force the
greater the acceleration. This relationship is represented as:

(where represents "directly proportional to")

Experiments also show us if you keep the force constant and double the
mass, the acceleration will halve. This means the acceleration is inversely
proportional to the mass i.e. the greater the mass the less the acceleration.

It is important to note that the acceleration is parallel to the force

applied.
Combing these two results we get:

Rearranging the above equation:

This equation gives the mathematical form of Newtons second law of

motion,
which states:

The acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to

the mass of the object and directly proportion to the force
acting on the object

Provided the force is measured in newtons the second law can be

written mathematically as:

The unit for measuring force is the newton. One newton is defined as:
The force which gives a mass of 1kg an acceleration of 1 m/s 2