is acceleration dependent on mass?

Question

take the case of1. free fall and also of 2.an object moving on a surface and 3.an object moving in space etc.... and as many as possible....
some say dependent while some say independent . I'm confused..........................
I just know that acceleration is inversely proportional to mass................

Answer 1

Newton's 2nd law says:

a = F/m

That means acceleration is inversely proportional to mass IF YOU KEEP THE FORCE CONSTANT. So, in other words, if you have a GIVEN force, say 160N, and you apply that to a bunch of different sample masses, their accelerations will indeed be inversely proportional to their masses.

But in the case of freefall, the "F" in the equation is NOT constant; in fact it is proportional to the mass. So even though the "a=F/m" equation still holds, every time you try a different sample mass (in a gravity field); you are changing not only the "m", but also the "F". The two changes cancel each other out, and the result is that the "a" has the same value regardless of which sample mass you use.

Example:

Sample mass 1: m=1kg
The force of gravity on this mass is: F=9.8N (N="Newtons")
acceleration = F/m = 9.8N/1kg = 9.8m/s²

Sample mass 2: m=3kg
The force of gravity on this mass is: F=29.4N
acceleration = F/m = 29.4N/3kg = 9.8m/s²

Since the force of gravity always varies with m, the acceleration always comes out to the same number.

Answer 2

Force, mass and acceleration are related by this simple equation
F = ma,

Among the three if F is constant, i.e. fixed then a is inversely proportional to mass.
If a is constant then F is directly proportional to mass.
If m is constant then F is directly proportional to acceleration.

In the case of free fall, a is constant and hence F is directly proportional to mass.
This is the reason we measure masses using balance by comparing their weights.

In the case of objects moving on the surfaces of earth, we cannot alter the mass of an object until additional mass or deletion mass is affected.
Hence mass is fixed. Force is directly proportional to acceleration and vice versa. { leaving alone gravitational force acting on them.

Same thing with objects moving in space.

Answer 3

not except the bodies mass is so great that it reasons an acceleration on earth(ie if it replaced into yet another planet) in any different case for on the fringe of the earth all issues decrease than pass an acceleration of 9.8 meters according to 2nd^2

Answer 4

Yes! acceleration is dependenton mass.

Answer 5

hmm. it should be because acceleration= force/mass
for freefall, a heavier parachutist must fall faster than the lighter parachutist for all resistance to cancel it's greater weight.

i had to dig out my old physics book for this :]

Answer 6

Newtons 2nd Law...F=ma