According to Newton's second law...

Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The

greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater
the amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).

An Atwood Machine is a very simple device as a way to demonstrate Newtons Laws of Motion.
Newtons Second Law of Motion says that the force required to move something equals the objects mass
times its rate of acceleration: F = ma. When Earths gravity is the force, you use 9.8 m/s
2
for a. This is
gravitational acceleration, the rate at which gravity pulls everything towards the center of the Earth.
You can rewrite Newtons Second Law to solve for acceleration by dividing both sides by m: a = F /
m. Acceleration is just what happens when you push on a mass, m, with a force, F.
It is consisted of two masses, m1 and m2, connected by a tight string that passes over a pulley, as seen in
Figure 1. When the masses are equal, the pulley system is in equilibrium, i.e. balanced. When the masses
are not equal, both masses will experience an acceleration (indicated with red arrows in Figure 1). For
simplification, we will assume the ideal pulley scenario, where the mass of the string is negligible and we
ignore any frictional effects acting on the pulley. With these assumptions, the accelerations a1 and a2 are
equal. The difference in weight between the two hanging masses determines the net force acting on the
system. This net force accelerates both of the hanging masses; the heavier mass is accelerated downward
and the lighter mass is accelerated upward. This system is convenient for studying motion under constant
acceleration because we can make the motion much slower, and easier to measure, than if we simply
allowed objects to fall freely under the influence of gravity


where T is the tension in the string and g is the acceleration due to gravity (g = 9.8 m/s2)
Newton's second law of motion can be formally stated as follows:
The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.
This verbal statement can be expressed in equation form as follows:
a = F
net
/ m
The above equation is often rearranged to a more familiar form as shown below. The net force is equated
to the product of the mass times the acceleration.
F
net
= m a
In this entire discussion, the emphasis has been on the net force. The acceleration is
directly proportional to the net force; the net force equals mass times acceleration; the
acceleration in the same direction as the net force; an acceleration is produced by a net
force. The NET FORCE. It is important to remember this distinction. Do not use the
value of merely "any 'ole force" in the above equation. It is the net force that is related
to acceleration. As discussed in an earlier lesson, the net force is the vector sum of all
the forces. If all the individual forces acting upon an object are known, then the net
force can be determined. If necessary, review this principle by returning to the practice
questions in Lesson 2.

Consistent with the above equation, a unit of force is equal to a unit of mass times a unit of acceleration.
By substituting standard metric units for force, mass, and acceleration into the above equation, the
following unit equivalency can be written.
1 Newton = 1 kg m/s
2

The definition of the standard metric unit of force is stated by the above equation. One Newton is defined
as the amount of force required to give a 1-kg mass an acceleration of 1 m/s/s.
the direction of the net force is in the same direction as the acceleration. Thus, if the direction of the
acceleration is known, then the direction of the net force is also known.
In conclusion, Newton's second law provides the explanation for the behavior of objects upon which the
forces do not balance. The law states that unbalanced forces cause objects to accelerate with an
acceleration that is directly proportional to the net force and inversely proportional to the mass.




Newton's second law of motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces
are not balanced. The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables
- the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. The acceleration of an object depends
directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object. As the force
acting upon an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is increased. As the mass of an object is
increased, the acceleration of the object is decreased.

More mass means more force needed to accelerate.
The Second Law is concerned with relating acceleration to mass and net force.
Newton's second law of motion explains how an object will change velocity if it is pushed or pulled upon.
Firstly, this law states that if you do place a force on an object, it will accelerate (change its velocity), and
it will change its velocity in the direction of the force. So, a force aimed in a positive direction will create
a positive change in velocity (a positive acceleration). And a force aimed in a negative direction will
create a negative change in velocity (a negative acceleration).




Secondly, this acceleration is directly proportional to the force. For example, if you are pushing on an
object, causing it to accelerate, and then you push, say, three times harder, the acceleration will be three
times greater.




Thirdly, this acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. For example, if you are
pushing equally on two objects, and one of the objects has five times more mass than the other, it will
accelerate at one fifth the acceleration of the other.






Newtons second law states that the force acting on an object is directly related to the
acceleration. The law is formulated as F = m x a, where F = force, a = acceleration and m = mass of the
object in motion. In terms of Atwoods machine, a force equal to the difference in the suspended weights
accelerates the total mass, m1+ m2.
For two masses hanging on an Atwood machine, acceleration is numerically the same, according to
Georgia State Universitys Hyperphysics. If one of the two masses, m2, is greater than the other, m1, the
system accelerates in the direction dictated by m2. The net force is given by Fnet = m2 x gravity m1 x
gravity, which is the difference in the two weights. Acceleration is given by the net force divided by total
mass (m1 + m2). Thus, a = ((m2-m1) x g) / (m1+m2). The system assumes negligible friction and pulley
mass.

The law of motion means that increasing a force acting on a moving object increases the acceleration,
provided the mass of the object remains constant. If the force remains constant, but the mass increases,
the object decelerates. Thus, mass and acceleration are inversely related.

The net force is the vector sum of all the individual forces. In Lesson 2, we learned how to determine the
net force if the magnitudes of all the individual forces are known. In this lesson, we will learn how to
determine the acceleration of an object if the magnitudes of all the individual forces are known. The three
major equations that will be useful are the equation for net force (F
net
= ma), the equation forgravitational
force (F
grav
= mg), and the equation for frictional force (F
frict
= F
norm
).
The process of determining the acceleration of an object demands that the mass and the net force are
known. If mass (m) and net force (F
net
) are known, then the acceleration is determined by use of the
equation.
a = F
net
/ m




The acceleration of an object is in the direction of the net force. If you push or pull an object in a
particular direction, it accelerates in that direction.
The acceleration has a magnitude directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force. If you
push twice as hard (and no other forces are present), the acceleration is twice as big.
The magnitude of the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. That is, the
larger the mass, the smaller the acceleration for a given net force (which is just as youd expect from
inertia).


















Newton's Second Law
If the forces are unbalanced, then the velocity of the object/system will change. That is, the object will
have an acceleration (change in velocity). This is the basis for Newton's Second Law of Motion. Newton's
Second Law deals with the relationship between cause and effect: what causes an object to change its
motion (the effect). Changing the motion of an object means changing velocity (either magnitude or
direction) over time, or accelerating the object. Since objects will continue moving in the same manner (to
follow the 1st Law), something has to cause an object to change its velocity. This cause is always a force
or a combination of forces (ie, an unbalanced force situation). This unbalance is called the net force, or
the vector sum of all applicable forces.
Another factor in Newton's 2nd Law involves the role of mass. A force applied to a massive object
produces a different motion than that same force applied to an object with low mass. These three factors
(force, acceleration, and mass) can then be used to describe the motion (effect) of an object (or system of
objects) that experience an unbalanced force(s) (the cause).
Quantitatively, Newton's second law predicts that when there is an unbalanced force on an object or
system, resulting acceleration will be directly proportional to the net force while inversely proportional to
the object or system mass.
F
net
= (m
system
)a (Eq. 1)