# Newton's second law states that the net force equals the product of mass and acceleration. A boat's mass of is 9.6×105 kg and it experiences a net force of 1.5×104 kg*m/s^2. What is its acceleration?

Jun 15, 2016

$0.15 \frac{m}{s} ^ 2$

#### Explanation:

Newton's second law states that:

$\textcolor{b l u e}{| \overline{\underline{\textcolor{w h i t e}{\frac{a}{a}} {F}_{\text{net}} = m a \textcolor{w h i t e}{\frac{a}{a}} |}}}$

where:
${F}_{\text{net}} =$net force
$m =$mass
$a =$acceleration

To solve for acceleration, rearrange the formula in terms of $a$.

$a = \frac{{F}_{\text{net}}}{m}$

$a = \frac{1.5 \times 104 k g \cdot \frac{m}{s} ^ 2}{9.6 \times 105 k g}$
Note: $k g \cdot \frac{m}{s} ^ 2$ is also equal to $1 N$.
Solve for $a$.
$a = \frac{1.5 \times 104 \textcolor{red}{\cancel{\textcolor{b l a c k}{k g}}} \cdot \frac{m}{s} ^ 2}{9.6 \times 105 \textcolor{red}{\cancel{\textcolor{b l a c k}{k g}}}}$
$a = \textcolor{g r e e n}{| \overline{\underline{\textcolor{w h i t e}{\frac{a}{a}} \textcolor{b l a c k}{0.15 \frac{m}{s} ^ 2} \textcolor{w h i t e}{\frac{a}{a}} |}}}$