Force magnitude from acceleration vs. mass graph?

AI Thread Summary
To find the magnitude of a force from an acceleration vs. mass graph, it's important to understand that the relationship is defined by Newton's Second Law, F=ma. The graph typically shows how different masses respond to the same force, resulting in varying accelerations. Replotting the data as acceleration vs. 1/mass can help clarify the relationship. This allows for the determination of the force by analyzing the slope of the new graph. Understanding this concept is crucial for solving related physics problems effectively.
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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