Common Misconceptions
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Force is equal to mass times acceleration, this if false. The net sum of the forces is equal to mass times acceleration. Fnet=ma.
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Another misconception is that the product of a mass and acceleration is itself a force. There are real forces acting on the system and the consequence of the net of those forces is one acceleration.
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One common misunderstand that a lot of people have is that each force creates its own acceleration and then we add up the accelerations. This isn't true. There is only one acceleration and it is a result of the sum of the forces.
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Another common issues people have is in adding forces. A force is a vector quantity so the only way to add them is by breaking each force into its X and Y components and then adding the Xs with Xs and Ys with Ys.
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Many people miss that the mass is the mass of whatever system I choose. If I have two objects and I choose both of them as my system my mass in Newton’s second law will be mass one plus mass 2.
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The Big Misconception for Newton's second law.
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Apparent Weight is another concept that people misunderstand. Weight is defined in our class as the force of gravity. Apparent weight is what normal force is required to hold an object up.