A fan cart rolls on a low-friction track. With one fan running, the net force on the cart is 10 N, and the cart's speed grows gently. Clip on a second, matching fan, and the net force doubles.
What happens to how quickly the cart gains speed?
Hold the mass fixed and change only the net force. Changing one variable at a time shows exactly what the net force does.
With a net force of 10 N, the cart's acceleration is 0.5 m/s².
Double the net force to 20 N, same cart: the acceleration doubles, to 1.0 m/s².
Double it again, to 40 N: the acceleration doubles again, to 2.0 m/s².
The pattern is proportional. With its mass unchanged, doubling the net force on the cart doubles its acceleration.
In general: with the mass held the same, increasing the net force causes the acceleration to increase in proportion.
The net force on a wagon grows while its mass stays the same. What happens to the wagon's acceleration?
The net force sets how quickly the velocity changes. It does not set the velocity itself.
A box slides over a smooth floor, accelerating at 1.2 m/s². The net force on it is doubled, with its mass unchanged. Enter the new acceleration in m/s².
A rolling office chair accelerates at 0.6 m/s². The net force on it is tripled, with its mass unchanged. Enter the new acceleration in m/s².
A delivery robot accelerates at 0.7 m/s². The net force on it is tripled, with its mass unchanged. What is its acceleration now?
Write down the values:
old acceleration = 0.7 m/s²; the net force is tripled; the mass is unchanged; new acceleration = ?
With the mass unchanged, the acceleration is proportional to the net force:
new acceleration = 0.7 × 3 = 2.1
The robot's acceleration is now 2.1 m/s².
A van accelerates at 2.6 m/s². The net force on it is halved, with its mass unchanged. Enter the new acceleration in m/s².
A cart's mass stays the same while the net force on it changes. Which statement is correct?
A robot vacuum accelerates at 0.35 m/s². The net force on it is increased to four times its value, with its mass unchanged. Enter the new acceleration in m/s².