• As stated on the previous page, Newton's Second Law of Motion tells us that objects will accelerate if there is a resultant force acting upon them
• This acceleration will be in the same direction as this resultant force

Newton’s Second law equation

Resultant Force

• Since force is a vector, every force on a body has a magnitude and direction
• The resultant force is therefore the vector sum of all the forces acting on the body. The direction is given by either the positive or negative direction as shown in the examples below

Resultant forces on a body

• The resultant force could also be at an angle, in which case addition of vectors is used to find the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.
  • For more details on this, have a look at the page on “Scalars & Vectors”

Acceleration

• Given the mass, Newton’s Second Law means you can find the acceleration of an object
• Since acceleration is also a vector, it can be either positive or negative depending on the direction of the resultant force
• Negative acceleration is deceleration
• An object may continue in the same direction however with a resultant force in the opposite direction to its motion, it will slow down and eventually come to a stop