How fast will an object with a mass of #24 kg# accelerate if a force # 33 N# is constantly applied to it?

1 Answer
Jan 2, 2016

You have to apply Newton's Second Law in order to solve this problem.

Explanation:

Newton's Second Law states a relation between the force applied to a body and the acceleration that it experiences:

#F prop a#

Both magnitudes are proportional: if we exert a force which is double than another force, the body will accelerate doubly.

The proportionality constant is called inertial mass, and it has the same value that the gravitational mass (or the common mass, understood as the quantity of matter in some body).

Hence:

#F = m cdot a#

If we want to calculate the acceleration:

#a = F / m = {33 " N"} / {24 " kg"} = 1,375 " m/s"^2#