Question
Question: If you are asked to push an object and the acceleration produced in it is now twice as before, then ...
If you are asked to push an object and the acceleration produced in it is now twice as before, then the force required will be,
A) Twice as before.
B) Half as before.
C) same as before.
D) Four times as before.
Solution
Hint
Use the formula F=ma to establish one to one relationship between force and acceleration and interpret the answer. Here we can see that acceleration is directly proportional to applied force. If we double the acceleration, force will get doubled.
Complete step by step answer
We know that acceleration of a given system is related to force by the following formula,
F=ma.
Since from the given relation we can directly say that force is directly proportional to the acceleration of the system.
So, when acceleration doubles, it would mean that we need to also double up the force to maintain the equality.
Hence the force should be doubled and the correct answer is option (A) which says force required should be twice as before.
Note
I) Force is a push or pull which changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of a body. In other words it changes the velocity of an object. It can change the direction of a moving object. It can also change the shape and size of an object.
II) When velocity is constant, then the acceleration of a body is always zero.
III) The SI unit of force is Newton (N).