- Trending Categories
Data Structure
Networking
RDBMS
Operating System
Java
MS Excel
iOS
HTML
CSS
Android
Python
C Programming
C++
C#
MongoDB
MySQL
Javascript
PHP
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Mathematics
English
Economics
Psychology
Social Studies
Fashion Studies
Legal Studies
- Selected Reading
- UPSC IAS Exams Notes
- Developer's Best Practices
- Questions and Answers
- Effective Resume Writing
- HR Interview Questions
- Computer Glossary
- Who is Who
Why do we add k in derivation of 2nd law of motion when it's value is 1?
Let us understand the derivation of Newton's 2nd law of motion.
"the magnitude of the applied force upon a body is directly proportional to the rate of the change of the momentum with time."
Or
If $F$ force is applied over a body whose initial velocity is $u$ and it becomes $v$ with respect to the time $t$.
Then, initial momentum $P_1=mass\times volume=mu$
And final momentum $P_2=mv$
Therefore, change in momentum $\delta P=P_2-P_1$
$=mv-mu$
And rate of the change of the momentum with respect to the time $t=\frac{\delta P}{\delta t}$
$=\frac{mv-mu}{t}$
$=m\frac{v-u}{t}$
$=ma$ [Because rate of the change of velocity with respect to the time $a=\frac{v-u}{t}$]
According to Newton's 2nd law of motion:
$F\propto\frac{\delta P}{\delta t}$
Or $F\propto ma$
Let $F=k\frac ma$
$k$ is a constant. We choose the value of $m$ , $u$, $v$ and time $t$ such that we find the value of $k=1$
So $F=ma$
Here we find that the value of $k$ has taken $1$ to make the derived equation of 2nd law of motion simple.