second law of motion
- noun
- /ˈsɛkənd lɔː əv ˈmoʊʃən/
- Specialized
:
segunda ley del movimiento
- The central idea hinges on Newton's second law of motion: force equals mass times acceleration, or F = ma.
- Newton's second law of motion
Examples
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Unlike his first and third laws, Newton's second law of motion is an equation: F = ma.
Academic text (2004) -
Understanding Newton's second law of motion helps explain how the speed of a car increases when more force is applied to the accelerator.
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So a great example of that is the Newton's second law of motion, the idea that force and acceleration are connected.
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Without guidance, the mass she had accrued would follow Newton's second law of motion.
Fiction book (1999) -
And then motion and force dynamics, so force, Newton's first law of motion, mass, Newton's second law of motion, Newton's third law of motion.
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Which is really dumb to think that hand would keep the blood from splashing back because it's Newton's second law of motion that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, and the way the gun was angled, about half a pint of the blood shot straight back onto his face.
Fiction book (2002) -
Newton's second law of motion states that the acceleration of an object depends on the net force acting upon it and its mass.
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In physics classes, students often learn about Newton's second law of motion, which can be summarized by the equation F = ma.
Synonyms
1
3.4
A rule that shows how force, mass and acceleration relate
A rule that a force changes an object's motion more when the force is bigger or the object is lighter
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'second', 'law', and 'motion' clearly indicate this is the second scientific rule concerning movement, so a B1 learner who knows the words would infer it is a rule about motion. However, the precise formulation (rate of change of momentum proportional to applied force and its direction) is specialized physics knowledge and not derivable from the constituent words alone, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Second law of motion can be remembered by imagining you push two toy carts: the same small push makes the light cart speed up a lot, but the heavy cart moves little, so you need a bigger push to change a heavy object's motion. This picture explains why the law says the change in motion depends on the size of the 'force' and the object's 'mass'.