Task 6: Sally Pearson
1. Explain the concept of Newton's Second Law of Motion: Newton's second law states "Something will happen if a force is applied: the object will accelerate and the acceleration will depend on the mass of the object." - force = mass x acceleration All acceleration requires a force. The bigger the force, the greater the acceleration. As an example, two people pushing a car will be more effective than just one person pushing it. But if the car is big, the acceleration will be less as mass affects acceleration. 2. Using the athlete as an example students describe their chosen athlete/ athlete’s sport in terms of F = MA. Detail the effects this relationship has on the athlete, there sport and the equipment used. The mass of the athlete greatly affects their performance. In a hurdling race mass is a key component to success. A hurdler with more mass will have to exert more force in order to accelerate. While a hurdler with less mass will have to exert a lesser force to match the acceleration of the more massive hurdler. Newton's Second Law can also be written as ΣF=m*a. This means that the Net Force is equal to the hurdlers mass times their acceleration. This equation can be changed to say that acceleration is inversely proportional to mass and directly proportional to the net force. |