How would increasing or decreasing the mass of an object affect the acceleration?
According to Newton's second law of motion, the acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. This means that if the mass of an object is increased, the acceleration will decrease, and if the mass is decreased, the acceleration will increase.
The relationship between mass and acceleration can be mathematically expressed using the equation:
acceleration = force / mass
As per the equation, if the force acting on an object remains constant and the mass is increased, the resulting acceleration will be smaller. Conversely, if the mass is decreased, the resulting acceleration will be larger, assuming the force remains constant.
For example, consider two objects with different masses being pushed with the same force. The object with the smaller mass will experience a larger acceleration, while the object with the larger mass will experience a smaller acceleration.
In summary, increasing the mass of an object will decrease its acceleration, while decreasing the mass will increase its acceleration, assuming the force remains the same.