What is newtons 2nd law of motion in simple terms?

Answer 1

It isn't really simple to explain; to get a thorough understanding, you MUST understand a few basic concepts. See below.

But basically, a force will result in an acceleration; the amount of acceleration an object experiences will depend on the force (more force will result in more acceleration), and on the object's mass (more mass will result in less acceleration).

The basic concepts that are important to understand are the following:

* Acceleration as a rate of change in velocity - how fast velocity changes.

* Both velocity and acceleration are vectors.

* A reduction in speed is a change in velocity; so is a change in direction, even if the speed doesn't change. In this case, in physics you would still talk about "acceleration"; even though in popular terms, "acceleration" is usually understood as an increase in speed.

* The NET FORCE must be considered - the vector sum of all forces that act on an object. It is quite common that a force acts on an object, but it doesn't accelerate - in which case there is a counter-force that is balancing the first force.