deriving F=ma? a vs F?

vysis

I knew i should have paid more attention in class =/

anyways, We have been studying newton's second law. And I have a question on my lab that asks for me to "derive equation for a (acceleration) vs F (force) and a (acceleration) vs m (mass)"

a vs F and a vs M are two graphs which we did.

and I am at a complete lost at what to do. I have no idea how to or what to derive. My only hint is a small piece of note I copied from teacher's notes. It goes like this:

It looks like slope is equal to 1/mass. So

a α(alpha) F
a α 1/m
a α F/m
F = ma

does anybody know what a(alpha) stands for? And what it exactly means by "deriving equation?"

thank you very very much.

Snazzy

Deriving means how someone formulates an equation through other equations or experimental results. The alpha symbol means 'is proportional to'.

vysis

so would i derive a vs F or a vs m in the same fashion as:

a (alpha) x
a (alpha) y
a (alpha) z
a = xyz

Astronuc

That's not α (alpha) but rather [itex]\varpropto[/itex], which means a is proportional to F, a is proportional to 1/m, and a is proportional to F/m, with the last being a one-to-one proportionality which gives a = F/m.

vysis

ahh, ic
thank you very much. That might explain why i never got anything by searching up alpha on google :P

can you please tell me what it is called?

Snazzy

It's called a proportionality symbol.

weitao

F [itex]\varpropto[/itex] ma? How to say that F=ma? is not F=kma?