Consider the acceleration graph. If the mass of the object that is accelerating does not change, but the force applied is tripled, how would the slope of the line change?

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Physics

Joel Burns

9 July, 06:00

Consider the acceleration graph. If the mass of the object that is accelerating does not change, but the force applied is tripled, how would the slope of the line change?

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Lamar Steele · Answer 1

The graph is missing but I guess you refer to the "Force vs mass" graph. In this graph, the acceleration is the slope of the curve, because the relationship between force F, mass m and acceleration a is (Second Newton's law)

F = ma

And in the graph, m is the x-variable, F is the y-variable and a the slope.

We can notice that there is a direct proportionality between F and a. So, if m is constant, when we triple the force (F' = 3F), the acceleration will also triple (a'=3 a). But since the acceleration is the slope of the curve, this means that the new slope will be 3 times the slope of the original curve.