1. Acceleration - Newton’s
Lesson 4:
Acceleration - Newton’s
Second Law

2. Newton’s Second Law of Motion
Acceleration of an object is directly related to applied force, and inversely related to the mass of the object.

3. Discovery Education Video
Science Video Vocab: Acceleration
Explains the forces behind acceleration and reveals how gravity relates to acceleration.

4. Acceleration is a change in the velocity of an object or body.
Velocity is the speed and direction of a moving object.

5. Acceleration can be
positive or negative.

6. Negative Acceleration = Decreasing Speed
Positive Acceleration = Increasing Speed
Negative Acceleration = Decreasing Speed

7. Two Factors Affect Acceleration
Force – The more force on an object, the greater the acceleration (directly related).
Mass – The more mass an object has, the more force will be needed to accelerate it. (inversely related).

8. Observing Acceleration:
Cars on a Ramp
Purpose: to observe and predict the effect of changes in mass and force on the acceleration of a toy car.
Materials: ramps, toy cars, weights, stopwatches

9. Observing Acceleration:
Cars on a Ramp
Hypothesis: What do you think will happen?
Experiment Procedure: What did you do? (step by step)
Results / Analysis: What happened? Explain your results in detail!
Conclusion: Was your hypothesis correct? What did you learn?

10. Acceleration Graphs
Position / Time Graphs

11. Acceleration Graphs
Velocity / Time Graphs

12. Acceleration Graphs
Position / Time Graphs

13. Acceleration Graphs
Velocity / Time Graphs

14. Acceleration: Key Questions
Describe the effect that mass and force have on acceleration.
Based on Newton’s second law of motion, explain why a smaller car will generally use less fuel than a larger car.
Describe how an acceleration graph could be useful.