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Q:
What is the difference between F=MA and P=MV?
A:
F=MA is describing a force, while P=MV is actually momentum.
The first equation states that a Force is equal to Mass times Acceleration, or Newton's second law of motion. The second one states that Momentum (P) is equal to Mass times Velocity. Objects that have momentum are not necessarily being acted on by a force.
You can see that the difference lies between velocity and acceleration: acceleration is the rate of change of an object's velocity. This means that a force is the rate at which an object's momentum is changing over time.
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 5:47 pm
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