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Any limits to Newtons 2nd Law?

April 26, 2017Law limits Newton

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Any limits to Newtons 2nd Law?

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I am a Science teacher working in Sweden. I teach 9th grade Physics and we have begun with Newton’s three laws of motion. The question I have concerns the second law… F = ma I am wondering about acceleration. If acceleration is meters per second per second, then if we put a force of 1N on a 1kg object in space we should see it accelerate at 1meter per second each second. BUT… Question is… WILL IT ACCELERATE INDEFINITELY? (Going faster and faster from only one Newton of force?) Provided that there is nothing to stop it (If we remove all gravitational forces, particle resistance; all other forces)? Thank you for any answer you might offer! Reply You ask: ” WILL IT ACCELERATE INDEFINITELY?” Yes, it will. As you approach the velocity of light, the increase in velocity gets smaller and smaller–but I think the growth of the energy remains the same. You just have to use the formula from the theory of relativity. However… it is not easy to maintain a steady force for a very long time.