Newton’s Second Law is the backbone of Physics I. You have learned about accelerations and kinematics. Most textbooks avoid mentioning what is causing those accelerations during the chapters on kinematics. Newton’s First Law let us know that forces cause things to accelerate. Newton’s Second Law tells us how forces and accelerations are related.
In modern mathematical usage, we write Newton’s Second Law in mathematical form as…
\(\color{black}{\Sigma \vec{F} = m \vec{a}}\)
Goal of the Course
By working through this course, you will begin to understand Newton’s Second Law. Then you can apply it in situations where multiple forces are applied to a single object. We will start by looking at one dimensional examples, then progress to two dimensions.