Newton's second law of motion: F = MA
Or, as it applies here, A = M/F (just not as recognizable)
The formula states that a mass that has a force applied to it will undergo an acceleration. The magnitude of the acceleration will be M/F
So if you apply a force in line with an object's motion, that force will be turned into an acceleration in the same direction. In other words, the object will speed up (and keep going the same direction)
The amount of the increase in velocity depends on how long the force is applied. If you have already had calculus, then I can just say that velocity is the integral of acceleration. But I'm guessing that you haven't, so think about being on a skateboard going at a constant speed. For simplicity, we will neglect friction, air resistance and all that. A friend comes along on a bike, going in the same direction, and starts to push on your back. You will accelerate. You will start going faster.
Since your friend can pedal the bike faster than your skateboard is going, he can maintain the force on your back as he wishes. As long as he maintains a force on your back, you will continue to accelerate at the rate of M/F, where M is the mass of you and the skateboard and F is the force that he is pushing with. That means that you will keep going faster and faster and faster as long as your friend continues to push.
As soon as your friend stops pushing, you will no longer accelerate. You will maintain the velocity that you had at the moment that he stopped pushing.
Note that nothing says your friend has to push with a constant force. As long as there is a positive force on your back, you will continue to accelerate. If the force at any given time is small, you will accelerate only a bit; if your friend pushes hard, you will accelerate more. And each moment that your friend continues to push, your velocity goes up ever more.
An integral is nothing more than a mathematical method for adding up all of those moments, all of the velocity changes that would occur between the time that your friend started pushing you until he stopped. The result is that you can calculate your velocity an any point in time if you know how the force was applied.
A bit more than what you asked for, but I hope it helped
Or, as it applies here, A = M/F (just not as recognizable)
The formula states that a mass that has a force applied to it will undergo an acceleration. The magnitude of the acceleration will be M/F
So if you apply a force in line with an object's motion, that force will be turned into an acceleration in the same direction. In other words, the object will speed up (and keep going the same direction)
The amount of the increase in velocity depends on how long the force is applied. If you have already had calculus, then I can just say that velocity is the integral of acceleration. But I'm guessing that you haven't, so think about being on a skateboard going at a constant speed. For simplicity, we will neglect friction, air resistance and all that. A friend comes along on a bike, going in the same direction, and starts to push on your back. You will accelerate. You will start going faster.
Since your friend can pedal the bike faster than your skateboard is going, he can maintain the force on your back as he wishes. As long as he maintains a force on your back, you will continue to accelerate at the rate of M/F, where M is the mass of you and the skateboard and F is the force that he is pushing with. That means that you will keep going faster and faster and faster as long as your friend continues to push.
As soon as your friend stops pushing, you will no longer accelerate. You will maintain the velocity that you had at the moment that he stopped pushing.
Note that nothing says your friend has to push with a constant force. As long as there is a positive force on your back, you will continue to accelerate. If the force at any given time is small, you will accelerate only a bit; if your friend pushes hard, you will accelerate more. And each moment that your friend continues to push, your velocity goes up ever more.
An integral is nothing more than a mathematical method for adding up all of those moments, all of the velocity changes that would occur between the time that your friend started pushing you until he stopped. The result is that you can calculate your velocity an any point in time if you know how the force was applied.
A bit more than what you asked for, but I hope it helped
-
Because the force, according to Newton's first law, results in acceleration of the object. This acceleration results in increased velocity. Newton's first law of motion: F = ma.