If the net force on an object is increased while mass fixed, what happens to acceleration?

If the net force on an object is increased while mass fixed, what happens to acceleration?

• A. Decreases
• B. Remains same
• C. Increases
• D. Zero

Answer: (C)

Acceleration is how quickly velocity changes, and Newton’s second law gives a = Fnet / m. If the mass is held constant and you increase the net force, the ratio Fnet/m becomes larger, so the acceleration increases. In other words, pushing harder on the same object makes it speed up faster. If the mass were larger, the same push would produce a smaller acceleration; if there were no net force, acceleration would be zero. But with a bigger net force and fixed mass, acceleration indeed increases.

Acceleration is how quickly velocity changes, and Newton’s second law gives a = Fnet / m. If the mass is held constant and you increase the net force, the ratio Fnet/m becomes larger, so the acceleration increases. In other words, pushing harder on the same object makes it speed up faster. If the mass were larger, the same push would produce a smaller acceleration; if there were no net force, acceleration would be zero. But with a bigger net force and fixed mass, acceleration indeed increases.