Claim: When the forces on the object were unbalanced, the object accelerated in the direction of the net force applied.
Evidence: During the experiment, I observed that when a 10 N force was applied to a stationary object on a flat surface, the object began to move in the direction of the applied force. The movement was noticeable as the object slid across the surface. When no additional forces acted on the object (e.g., friction), it continued to accelerate until frictional forces began to oppose the motion. Additionally, when I increased the applied force to 15 N while maintaining the same opposing frictional force of 5 N, the object accelerated faster than it did with the 10 N force, confirming that the net force influenced its acceleration.
Reasoning: According to Newton's second law of motion (F=ma), acceleration is produced when there is a net external force acting on an object, resulting from unbalanced forces. In our case, the initial application of the 10 N force created a net force greater than zero (10 N), which resulted in acceleration in the direction of that force. When I increased the force to 15 N, the net force became 10 N (15 N applied force - 5 N friction), leading to even more acceleration. This consistent behavior of the object's motion directly supports the claim that unbalanced forces lead to changes in the object's velocity, confirming the principles of classical mechanics.