Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
It is well within our everyday experience to observe that the greater the force
applied to an object, the greater its acceleration. The harder you kick, throw,
or hit a ball, the faster it will travel. We can also observe quite easily that the
greater the mass an object possesses, the more force is required to move it. It
is easier to set a ping-pong ball in motion by no more than blowing on it than
to set a tennis ball moving, which would require more energy and force, or to
set a cannonball in motion, which would require more force than either the
ping-pong ball or the tennis ball. From this we can see that the more mass an
object possesses, the more inertia it has.
This inertia needs to be overcome to create movement, and a higher degree
of energy is required for objects of a greater mass to achieve a stated level
of acceleration. In other words, it takes more energy to get a large truck
moving at 20 miles an hour than it does to get a motor scooter up to the
same speed.
Any increase in force will result in an increase in acceleration and the object
will gain momentum. The increase in momentum will require a greater force
to slow down or stop the object. This is also proportional to the mass of the
object, so the greater mass an object has, the more momentum it possesses,
and the more momentum it has, the greater force that is required to stop it.
FIG 2.6
The greater the momentum
an object has, the more force required
to bring the object to a standstill.
