Graphing problem

1. Jun 17, 2009

dienamics

Hi,
Was wondering if someone could help me out with this simple graphing problem.

Its a mass x acceleration graph. I have a constant force but an increasing mass e.g

When plotting this graph I end up with a negative curve, as the mass increases, the acceleration decreases.

I need to rearrange this to a straight line graph.

pls help!

Cheers.

2. Jun 17, 2009

sylas

A common approach is to plot logs. When you have a power law between two variables, this gives a straight line. Many plotting programs provide an option to make one or both axes a log-scale. The gradient of a log graph lets you know the power of the relationship.
\begin{align*} y &= x^n \\ \log y &= n \log x \end{align*}​

Cheers -- sylas

3. Jun 17, 2009

dienamics

Hmm...

Not sure thats going to work, but thats. probably should have explained the question better.

Its not a negative curve, the curve represents deceleration in the positive direction (curve with decreasing gradient) and the force is not given. If worked out using F=ma the force varies.

Not sure how to go about this one. Have tired rearranging using a=f/m but dont seem to be having much luck...

probably something really simple I'm doing wrong

4. Jun 17, 2009

dienamics

Can anyone help me with this??