Required Practical: Acceleration (Force and Mass)

This lesson covers the Required Practical to investigate the effect of varying force and mass on the acceleration of an object, as specified by AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy (8464), section 6.5.3 (Required Practical Activity 19). This practical directly tests Newton's second law ($F = ma$F=ma) and is a common source of exam questions.

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Aim

To investigate the relationship between:

1. Force and acceleration (keeping mass constant).
2. Mass and acceleration (keeping force constant).

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Equipment

Item	Purpose
Dynamics trolley	The object being accelerated
Runway (ramp/track)	Smooth surface for the trolley to travel along
Light gates and data logger (or ticker tape and timer)	To measure speed and calculate acceleration
Pulley and string	To connect hanging masses to the trolley
Masses and mass hanger	To provide the accelerating force (weight of hanging masses)
Balance	To measure the mass of the trolley and added masses

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Method

Investigating Force and Acceleration (mass constant)