Newton’s Second Law of Motion Examples
The second law of motion finds its usage in several domains:
- On the cricket ground, the fielder pulls his hands in the backward direction to catch the fast-approaching cricket ball. This reduces the momentum of the ball and induces a delay. When the ball comes into the hand of the fielder and comes to a halt, the momentum of the ball is reduced to zero.
In case, the ball stops suddenly the momentum reaches 0 in an instant time frame. There is a quick rate of change in momentum due to which the player’s hand may get injured. Therefore, pulling the hand backward a fielder induces a delay to the change of momentum to become zero, to prevent injury.
The image given below shows a fielder catching a ball and taking their hand backward to prevent injury.
- A sand bed or cushioned bed is provided to athletes performing long jumps to induce a delay in the change of momentum. The momentum induced because of the velocity and mass of the athlete is reduced to zero as soon as the athlete reaches back on the surface. In case the rate of momentum changes instantly, it may hurt the player. The purpose of the cushioned bed is to delay the momentum of the athlete to zero and thus prevent injury.
- In the event of a sudden change in a vehicle’s velocity, as a result of braking or an accident, the passengers tends to be pushed in the forward direction and may get fatal injuries. In such a case, the change of momentum is reduced to zero by seat belts. Through their stretch, seat belts prolong the time it takes for passengers’ momentum to reach zero, reducing the risk of injury in a crash.
- An object falling down from a certain height undergoes an increase in acceleration because of the gravitational force applied.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion: Definition, Formula, Derivation, and Applications
Newton’s Second Law of Motion says that for an object under the influence of unbalanced forces, the acceleration of the object is directly proportional to the force applied.
In this article, we will learn about the Second law of motion by Newton, including its definition, example, formula, derivation, and applications. We will also explore some numerical problems and FAQs on the Second Law of motion.