A 4 kg object experiences a net force of 12 N. What is its acceleration?

A 4 kg object experiences a net force of 12 N. What is its acceleration?

• A. 3 m/s^2
• B. 12 m/s^2
• C. 48 m/s^2
• D. 1 m/s^2

Answer: (A)

Acceleration comes from Newton’s second law: a = F_net / m. With a net force of 12 N acting on a 4 kg mass, the acceleration is 12 N ÷ 4 kg = 3 m/s^2. The direction of the acceleration is the same as the direction of the net force. The other numbers would come from using different masses (for example, a = 12 m/s^2 if the mass were 1 kg; a = 1 m/s^2 if the mass were 12 kg; a = 48 m/s^2 if the mass were 0.25 kg), but with the given values the acceleration is 3 m/s^2.

Acceleration comes from Newton’s second law: a = F_net / m. With a net force of 12 N acting on a 4 kg mass, the acceleration is 12 N ÷ 4 kg = 3 m/s^2. The direction of the acceleration is the same as the direction of the net force. The other numbers would come from using different masses (for example, a = 12 m/s^2 if the mass were 1 kg; a = 1 m/s^2 if the mass were 12 kg; a = 48 m/s^2 if the mass were 0.25 kg), but with the given values the acceleration is 3 m/s^2.