Force magnitude from acceleration vs. mass graph?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the magnitude of a force from a graph that plots acceleration against mass. Participants are exploring the relationship between these variables and how to interpret the graph in the context of Newton's laws of motion.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Some participants are questioning how to derive the force magnitude from the given graph, while others suggest replotting the data in a different format. There is also a discussion about the implications of plotting acceleration against mass and the conditions under which the data is collected.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with participants expressing confusion about the problem setup and the assumptions involved. Some guidance has been offered regarding the potential need to replot the data, but there is no clear consensus on how to proceed or what the next steps should be.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the problem involves multiple objects with different masses responding to a single force, which raises questions about how to accurately interpret the graph and apply Newton's Second Law in this context.

lawsonj
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I am a new university physics student doing some homework, but i cannot find the method for this problem.

How do I find the magnitude of a force from an acceleration vs. mass graph?

I know mass is the inverse of the slope of an acceleration vs. force graph, but I'm not sure how to do this the other way around.

Any help?
Thank you !
 
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lawsonj said:
I am a new university physics student doing some homework, but i cannot find the method for this problem.

How do I find the magnitude of a force from an acceleration vs. mass graph?

I know mass is the inverse of the slope of an acceleration vs. force graph, but I'm not sure how to do this the other way around.

Any help?
Thank you !

Your question makes no sense. If you are plotting acceleration vs. mass, you must be plotting the response of numerous different objects (having different masses) and being subject to some forces, leading to some accelerations, possibly different for each of the different objects.
 
lawsonj said:
How do I find the magnitude of a force from an acceleration vs. mass graph?

I would replot acceleration vs 1/mass.
 
Ray Vickson said:
Your question makes no sense. If you are plotting acceleration vs. mass, you must be plotting the response of numerous different objects (having different masses) and being subject to some forces, leading to some accelerations, possibly different for each of the different objects.

yes. it may be multiple objects, but there is only 1 force acting on them. I'm assigned to find the magnitude of that force.

"The following figure shows the acceleration of objects of different mass that experience the same force."
"What is the magnitude of the force? "
 
CWatters said:
I would replot acceleration vs 1/mass.

how would that let me find the magnitude of the force?

We just started this chapter and I guess the book assumes you know how to find the magnitude from the graph. I don't know how to do that.
 
lawsonj said:
how would that let me find the magnitude of the force?

We just started this chapter and I guess the book assumes you know how to find the magnitude from the graph. I don't know how to do that.

Use Newton's Second Law.
 

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