When you push a shopping cart, applying force makes it accelerate. If the cart is empty, it moves quickly because it has less mass, showing that a larger force causes greater acceleration. However, if the cart is full, it accelerates more slowly due to its increased mass, demonstrating that acceleration decreases as mass increases. This example highlights Newton's Second Law, where both force and mass affect acceleration.
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When you push the shopping cart, you apply a force to it. If the cart is empty (having less mass), it accelerates quickly in the direction of the force. This situation demonstrates the first part of Newton's Second Law: a larger force results in a greater acceleration when mass remains constant.
Conversely, if the cart is full of groceries (increasing its mass), and you apply the same force, the cart will not accelerate as quickly as when it was empty. This shows the second part of the law: the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the cart. The heavier the cart, the less it accelerates for the same amount of applied force.
Thus, this example effectively illustrates Newton's Second Law by demonstrating how both force and mass influence the acceleration of an object in a practical scenario.
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