Find force from a function of displacement?

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the net force on an object moving along the x-axis with the position function x(t) = At - Bt^3, one must first determine the acceleration. The acceleration is found by taking the second derivative of the position function with respect to time. Velocity is the first derivative of the position, and acceleration is the derivative of velocity. Once acceleration is calculated, the net force can be determined using the formula F = ma, where m is the mass of the object. Understanding these steps is crucial for solving the problem effectively.
beanryu
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An object with mass m moves along the x-axis. Its position as a function of time is given by x(t)=At-Bt^3, where A and B are constants. Calculate the net force on the object as a function of time.

I have no idea as to how to begin.
Thanks for anyone's help.
:confused: I don't know !&@#%^@%!$^$(! about doing this kind of calculus problem.
 
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beanryu said:
An object with mass m moves along the x-axis. Its position as a function of time is given by x(t)=At-Bt^3, where A and B are constants. Calculate the net force on the object as a function of time.
.

You want the force, so that tells you that you need to find F=ma. You know the mass, m. So you need to find a, the acceleration function for this motion.

Velocity is the rate of change of position, and acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. There are plenty of examples of this in physics, some of which are sure to be in your physics text, so you might take a look there and see how they did this.

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