Question

newtons second law inquiry lab
check for understanding:
how did the acceleration of the ping pong ball compare to the golf balls acceleration? what caused them to be different?

• the ping pong balls acceleration was much type answer here than the golf balls because it had a lot type answer here mass. this means it was able to travel type answer here the same amount of force.

what did your results tell you about the relationship between mass and acceleration?

• when you increase the mass of an object, the acceleration of the object type answer here, assuming that the same amount of force is applied.

Explanation:

According to Newton's second law \(F = ma\) (where \(F\) is force, \(m\) is mass, and \(a\) is acceleration), when \(F\) is constant, \(a=\frac{F}{m}\). A smaller mass (\(m\)) will result in a larger acceleration (\(a\)). Since a ping - pong ball has a smaller mass than a golf ball, when the same force is applied, the ping - pong ball will have a larger acceleration.

Answer:

1. The ping pong ball’s acceleration was much greater than the golf ball’s because it had a lot less mass. This means it was able to travel faster with the same amount of force.
2. When you increase the mass of an object, the acceleration of the object decreases, assuming that the same amount of force is applied.