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Old 04-03-2006, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Mathew
A Force is equal to mass times acceleration per newtons 2nd law.
To maintain a certain velocity of anything, it is always accelerating ?
Remember it is net force that matters, not any old force. For example, if I am pushing a box forwards on a table at a constant speed, I have to apply force to push it forwards. According to the equation F=ma, there would be acceleration (a=F/m). But because F refers to net force, acceleration is zero. The frictional forces between the table and box cancel out (vector sum of forces equal to zero). When forces are balanced, there is no change in velocity (this does not necessarily mean 0m/s), hence acceleration is zero.

You can maintain a constant speed of something and still make it accelerate, as in circular motion. But you can't maintain a constant velocity.
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