A spring scale shows a net force of 1N acting on a 2 kg mass. What happens to the acceleration of the object if the net force is decreased to 0.5 N?

Question

The acceleration increases 4x to 2N
The acceleration decreases by one half to 0.25N
The acceleration remains 0.5N
The acceleration increases 2X to 1N

Answer 1

To determine what happens to the acceleration when the net force is decreased, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states:

\[ F = ma \]

where \( F \) is the net force, \( m \) is the mass, and \( a \) is the acceleration.

1. Initial Scenario:

   • Net force, \( F_1 = 1 , \text{N} \)
   • Mass, \( m = 2 , \text{kg} \)
   • Using the formula to find the initial acceleration, \( a_1 \): \[ a_1 = \frac{F_1}{m} = \frac{1 , \text{N}}{2 , \text{kg}} = 0.5 , \text{m/s}^2 \]

2. New Scenario (after decreasing the net force):

   • New net force, \( F_2 = 0.5 , \text{N} \)
   • Using the formula to find the new acceleration, \( a_2 \): \[ a_2 = \frac{F_2}{m} = \frac{0.5 , \text{N}}{2 , \text{kg}} = 0.25 , \text{m/s}^2 \]

Thus, when the net force is decreased to 0.5 N, the acceleration decreases to 0.25 m/s².

Therefore, the correct answer to the question is: The acceleration decreases by one half to 0.25N.