Essay Sample on Newton's 2nd Law: Exploring Force, Mass & Acceleration

Introduction

Physics covers a number of theoretical concepts which were developed by the great scientists in the past. This paper covers selected concepts which have been discussed in depth giving elaborate examples. The following subtopics represent the selected scientific concepts.

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Newton's Second Law

Newton's second law of motion states that the acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to its mass and directly proportional to the net force acting on it (Chandrasekhar, 2003). Newton's first law explains the behavior of an object when the resultant external forces on it are zero. The second explains what happens when a net force is applied to the object. These two laws can be considered as a definition of force. A force is a cause capable of causing a change in a body speed, that is, acceleration. In addition, the direction of the acceleration coincides with that of the force and the parameter that relates force and acceleration is precisely the mass of the object, an intrinsic property to it. When a force acts on an extended body, it can be accelerated resulting into motion or simply deform. Actually, what happens in this last case is that there is a relative displacement between the particles that make up the object and its geometry. That is, accelerations take place, but at a microscopic level. The second law is applied in day to day life of humans when stopping objects or when pushing objects.

Position and How It Is Measured

To describe rest or movement you have to choose a reference system. A reference system is a point with respect to which we refer the movement of bodies, endowed with axes with respect to which we give the position of the body (the coordinates of the point where it is). By position, it is understood that it is the place where a mobile object is found at a certain instant of time t. It is usually represented with a position vector (r). Given the dependence of this vector over time, that is, if they give us r (t) , all the necessary information for calculations kinematics is available. In this case, it is meant that the position is a vector quantity and that its magnitude for a specific case depends on how much time has elapsed since he stops remaining in the initial condition.

The direction is very critical in position, hence a vector quantity. When the position of a body changes with time, the motion can be graphically demonstrated. On the graph, the position can be measured. The position of an object in a single directional motion is always denoted by letter x.

Thing Necessary to Measure the Position

In order to measure the position of an object, one requires a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Double integration is recommended. For an absolute position, one will require an optical tracking device or a GPS.

Forces Occurring In Two Blocks Placed On a Spinning Stool, At Different R

The forces occurring in a situation where two blocks are placed on a rotating stool side by side originate from the tangential velocity. When the table starts to spin, the directions of the objects are changing constantly, without changing the magnitude. The objects, therefore, will gain acceleration. The two objects demonstrate a circular motion with the pivot being the center of rotation and radius R and r. R is the radius of the further object and r the radius of the object nearer to the pivot. The acceleration involved is inward towards the center of the circular path.

Atomic Theory

The matter is made up of small particles, joining to form objects f bigger magnitudes as big as the size of the earth (Tu-nan, 1993). The smallest unit that a matter can be split into is the atom. The atom is composed of a positively charged nucleus formed by protons and neutrons, collectively known as nucleons around which is an electronic cloud of negative charge.

The Atomic nucleus is formed by nucleons, which are of two types, positive electric charge particle equal to an elementary charge, and a mass of 1.6726x10-27 Kg. and Neutrons Particles lacking electrical charge and a mass of 1,672x10-27 Kg. The simplest nucleus is that of Hydrogen, formed only by a proton (Tu-nan, 1993).

Antimatter

Antimatter is a term used in physics and chemistry, to define the matter composed of antiparticles. For example, an antiproton ( proton of negative charge) or an antielectron (electron with a positive charge), are those that make up an atom of antimatter, in the same way, that an electron and a proton make up a hydrogen atom (Chaikin, Lubensky, & Witten, 1995). Antimatter, as its own name says, is the opposite of matter, that is, a matter composed of particles with an opposite electrical charge to the normal. When a matter and antimatter come into contact, they cause the destruction of both, meaning that a transformation would occur in which matter would become energy.

According to the cosmic theory, in the universe are present equal amounts of materials and antimaterials enclosed (for obvious reasons), in areas distant from each other. However, when they are found, large destruction phenomena occur. Antimatter was discovered in 1932, by the American physicist Carl Anderson, at that time Anderson was investigating the behavior of cosmic rays when he happened to observe and photograph a positron (Chaikin et al., 2003). Later, the antiprotons were discovered, this was possible through the Pamela satellite, launched in 2006. This satellite had as its mission, to conduct a study of the sun's energy particles. With the passage of time, man perfected the technique of artificially manufacturing an antiproton.

Through experiments, it has been confirmed that when matter and antimatter collide, they neutralize and disappear. The matter that disappears is transformed into gamma radiation; confirming in this way what is expressed in Einstein's theory of relativity, which predicted the reversibility between matter and energy (Chaikin et al., 1995). Antimatter has different uses: it can be used as fuel. It can also be used to generate energy, since it is one of the most powerful energy sources that humanity has known, besides being non-polluting; a simple drop is capable of producing (for a day) electric power to an entire city.

In the medical area, the main application of antimatter is positron emission tomography. The gamma rays that are derived from the annihilation of matter and antimatter are used to locate tumor tissues in the body. They are also being applied in cancer therapies, it is expected that the use of antiprotons can destroy cancerous tissues.

Pitting On a Boat Propeller

In low-pressure fluids, there are low pressures in localized points. These pressures may be less than the corresponding vapor pressure of the liquid. Here, the liquid evaporates and steam bubbles occur. Due to the increase in volume during evaporation, the flow patterns change with respect to the unaltered flow. In the bombs, the steam bubbles can grow so much that the cross-section of the remaining flow is significantly reduced and the power of the pump is affected. The process is often unstable because the speed of flow increases due to the reduction of the cross section of flow and, therefore, cavitations is driven by the fall of further pressure.

Speed of Sound through Steel and Water

Light travels the fastest in solids. Therefore the person listening through the pipe of steel pole will hear the voice faster than the one listening to the voice through a water column (Morse, 1948). The particles of solids are closely packed together compared to the particle orientation in liquids. The vibrations of sound are therefore easily passed over to the neighbouring molecules hence making sound movement faster.

The Particle Model of Light

Newton proposed that light exists in the form of particles. The particles move at very high speed hence maintaining a straight line. The particle model hence proves the rectilinear propagation of light (Ryer & Light, 1997). The reflection of a beam of light behaves in a similar way the elastic frictionless ball bounces on a smooth service. Newton also proved that the angle of incidence of the collision and the angle of reflection are equal. This, therefore, is one of the proofs that light consists of little masses.

Refraction

The rays of light are deflected (refracted) when they go from water to air, making objects appear less deep and closer to the observer. Air travels at different velocities in different media due to the difference in the refractive indices of the two media. Water has a higher refractive index than that of air. This difference makes a ray of light to travel with higher speed in the air than it is in water and therefore the ray travels slower in water. The light bends making it the straw appears bent (Ryer & Light, 1997).

Provided the materials are transparent and are of different refractive indices, a ray or a beam of light moving from one medium to another bends, hence making any object observed through the interface appear bent.

Static Electric Charge

Static electricity is an electric charge without movement. All matter is made up of particles atoms. An atom is the smallest unit of a given matter that still retains the properties of material even after getting split into smaller equal parts. Several atoms may combine to form molecules, which are bigger units of the particles making up an object. An atom is made up of protons, positively charged and neutrons which are neutral. The two are enclosed in a nucleus which is positively charged (Reitz, Milford & Christy, 2008). At rest, the positive charge of the nucleus is equal to the sum of the negative charges of all the electrons that revolve around them. This means that the load is neutral. When the nucleus gains or loses electrons, an imbalance in the charge occurs. When an atom loses one or more electrons the nucleus acquires a positive charge, while an atom that gains one or more electrons acquire a negative charge. The unstable element is known as an ion (Reitz et al., 2008).

There are only two types of Load or charges: positive and negative. Atoms that have the same type of charge are repelled, while those with opposite charges are attracted

Static electricity is a phenomenon of the body surfaces occurring as a result of two or more bodies coming into contact for a while and then separated. These interactions result in an exchange or transfer of charged electrons amongst the atoms. The level of loading (the force of field) depends on several factors: the material and its physical properties and electrical, temperature, the humidity, the pressure and the speed of separation. The load increases with an increase in pressure or the separation speed (Reitz et al., 2008). The electrostatic charge is greater during the months of winter due to low humidity. When the relative humidity is high, some materials can absorb it and, as a consequence, its surface can become semiconductive. Due to the transformation of the surface in (semi) conductive, the electrostatic charge remains at low levels or it may even go away. When friction occurs, those materials happen to have a positive or negative charge. The magnitude and the polarity of the charge depend on the position of the material in the series.

In production processes, electrostatic charges can be a serious setback, since that causes the materials to remain attached to the machine or to adhere to each other. In addition, there is a risk of electric shock for employees. The electric charge attracts dust from the environment. In locations with the risk of explosion, the electrostatic charge could cause a spark and, consequently, a fire or even an explosion. An example of the electric charges is lightning. The positive and the negative charges on the clouds causes a high voltage stream of current which is seen as a bright splash of light. Also, when dry hair...