if the net force of a system is greater than zero and constant, and the mass decreases what happens to the acceleration

1 answer

According to Newton's second law of motion, the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration is given by the equation:

\[ F = m \cdot a \]

Where:

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

If the net force (\( F \)) is constant and greater than zero, and the mass (\( m \)) of the system is decreasing, we can rearrange the equation to solve for acceleration (\( a \)):

\[ a = \frac{F}{m} \]

From this relationship, we see that if the force remains constant while the mass decreases, the acceleration (\( a \)) will increase. This is because the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass when the force is held constant. Therefore, as mass decreases, acceleration becomes larger.