According to Newton's 2nd law, what two ways can you increase the acceleration of an object?



increase its mass and increase the force acting on it.
decrease its mass and increase the force acting on it.
C increase its mass and decrease the force acting on it.
D decrease its mass and decrease the force acting on it.

1 answer

According to Newton's 2nd law, acceleration is directly proportional to the net force acting on an object and inversely proportional to its mass. This is expressed by the formula \( F = ma \), where \( F \) is the net force, \( m \) is the mass, and \( a \) is the acceleration.

To increase the acceleration of an object, you can:

  1. Increase the force acting on it (while keeping mass constant).
  2. Decrease its mass (while keeping force constant).

Therefore, the correct answer is B: decrease its mass and increase the force acting on it.