11 Examples of Newton’s second law of motion

Newton’s law of motion describes the motion of the object and its relationship with the applied forces. These laws were given by Sir Issac Newton in 1687. Every object that is on planet Earth will experience some force. The impact of these forces on the body is explained in Newton’s second law of motion. This law is commonly known as the law of acceleration. In this article, we discuss the statement and 11 examples of Newton’s second law of motion.

Newton’s second law statement

The rate of change of momentum (mass*velocity) is directly proportional to the force applied to it.

We can state the second law simply as:

For a constant mass, the force applied to a body is directly proportional to the acceleration of the object. (F = m*a — Newton’s second law equation)

Newton’s second law of motion examples

  • If we push two objects with the same force. Then the lighter of the two objects will move at a higher speed compared to the heavier one. The above animation explains this clearly. The two objects should be of the same material, otherwise, the frictional forces may impact the experiment.
friction and force are directly propotional to the mass of an object. Newton's second law of motion
Acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass
  • When we press on the accelerator, we apply more force, so the speed increases (acceleration). The accelerator controls the flow of fuel to the combustion chamber in the engine. So when we press the accelerator, more fuel goes into the engine, which gives more power, hence, the acceleration is higher.
  • When a truck and a bicycle are moving at the same acceleration. The force of the truck will be higher compared to the force of the bicycle. So, if an object were to come in the way of a bicycle, it may be not be damaged much in comparison to a collision with the truck.
  • Acceleration is a vector quantity, and it has direction. If a cricketer or baseball player strikes a ball in a particular direction, then the ball moves in the specified direction with the force provided. If you hit hard, the ball will travel a farther distance.
  • Again in a game of cricket or baseball, the faster you swing your bat the more force you generate. And the farther the ball travels because of the force.
unbalanced forces example
Example of newton’s second law of motion: Hitting a baseball bat with the force
  • It is very easy to lift an empty bag compared to a heavy bag. The mass increases the force required to lift the bag.
  • The weight of the aircraft is a very crucial factor. It is designated to carry only a specified load. Above the limits, it cannot generate the lift for take-off.
  • Tension in a rope is also a type of force. All types of forces follow Newton’s second law of motion. In an elevator, strong cables are used to lift the elevator cabin. The person limit and speed of the elevator are calculated based on Newton’s second law. You can read our blog on tension formula in an elevator to learn more about this.
  • Our weight. This is an example of newton’s second law which we encounter every day. Every object on planet Earth experiences a force of gravity pulling us towards the center of the Earth. This force is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity (denoted by g = 9.8 m/s2). But we feel weightless in outer space due to a lack of gravity.
  • Newton’s second law is used for simulation during the design of Prosthetic limbs/arms. You can read this article titled “Simulation of the motion of a four-bar prosthetic knee mechanism fitted with a magneto-rheological damper” to learn about this.
newton's second law example
Example of newton’s second law of motion: Rocket launch
  • When a rocket is launched into outer space, it has to overcome the gravitational pull of the earth. For this, it has to have a force that can help it escape the gravitational force. The thrust provided by the combustion provides the rockets with a velocity greater than the escape velocity. The force required to reach this velocity force is based on Newton‘s second law. The weight of the rocket is so adjusted to achieve this velocity.

What are the most common everyday examples of Newton’s second law?

newton's second law example
Collision of two cars Image by LillyCantabile from Pixabay 

The gravitation force is around us everywhere. We know that light objects fall with less impact compared to heavier objects. This is based on Newton’s second law. As acceleration due to gravity is the same, the mass of the bodies makes the difference. Also, we know that it is dangerous to drive at high speed. This is also an example of newton’s second law of motion. Since force is directly proportional to acceleration, the impact on collision will more at higher speeds.

Research

You can read this article titled “Analysis of factors affecting steering performance of wheeled skid-steered vehicles” where the authors have used a kinetic model using Newton’s second law of motion to show the relationship between steering wheels’ rotation speed and the motion state of the vehicles’ mass center.

In this article titled “An experimental verification of Newton’s second law,” the authors give an experimental validity of newton’s second law of motion. They try to prove the relationship between acceleration and force for a fixed mass.

See Also