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SCIENCE
Quarter 1 – Module 1:
LAW OF ACCELERATION

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Science – Grade 8
Quarter 1 – Module 1: Law of Acceleration

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Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand

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to use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher
and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad

Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

DEVELOPMENT TEAM OF THE MODULE

WRITER: April R. Gersalia

REVIEWERS: Welimen C. Oseo

Maria Charlene D. Dipad
Alvin T. Rosare
Michelle H. Guadamor

EDITORS: Maria Charlene D. Dipad

Welimen C. Oseo
Michelle H. Guadamor

LAYOUT ARTISTS: Roman B. Jebulan

Kevin H. Ojos

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 Most Essential Learning Competency

Investigate the relationship between

the amount of force applied and the
mass of the object to the amount of
change in the object’s motion

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 Lesson 1

LAW OF ACCELERATION

The principles behind Newton’s laws of

motion are very significant in understanding the
motion of objects in our universe. Their
applications are all around us. Understanding
these laws, therefore, help us understand why
things around us move or behave the way they
do.

In this module you will learn about the effects

of force on motion. This lesson, focuses on the
relationship between acceleration and the force
that acts on the body as well as the mass of an
object. Newton’s laws of motion will be presented
and applied to real – life situations.
At the end of the module, you should be able
to:

Explain how force affects acceleration when mass

is constant.
Explain how mass affects acceleration when force
is constant.
State the relationship among force, mass, and
acceleration.

So, let’s ride, read, enjoy, and

discover

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 But Oops!
before you go on, try this one!

Pre-Test

Directions: Choose the correct answer.

1. What can you say about mass and acceleration produced if the applied force
is constant?
a. Directly proportional c. Inversely proportional
b. Equal d. unrelated
2. A body of mass is being accelerated by a net force. If the net force is
reduced to one – half, what is its acceleration?
a. Doubled c. decreased to one – fourth
b. Halved d. increased four times
For questions 3 & 4, consider the illustration below of a boy pushing a 10 kg box of
force 50N.

3. What do you think will happen to the acceleration of the box, if the boy
increases the force he exerted in pushing the box?
a. The acceleration will increase
b. The acceleration will decrease
c. The acceleration will remain the same
d. The acceleration will increase and then decrease
4. If another 10 kg box is added above the 1st box, what will happen to the
acceleration of the box? (Note: the force applied by the boy is the same)
a. The acceleration will increase
b. The acceleration will decrease
c. The acceleration will remain the same
d. The acceleration will increase and then decrease

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 5. Given two (2) push carts of the same load (mass) where cart A is being
pushed by a person while cart B is being pushed by 2 persons, which cart
will accelerate faster?

a. Cart A c. both cart A & B

b. Cart B d. neither of the carts

How did you find the test?

Please check your answers at the answer key section
and see how you did. Don’t worry if you got a low score,
this just means that there are more things that you can
learn from this module. So, hop on!

Learning Activities

ELICIT!

Do you wonder, why some things move and at

times faster than the others?
Let’s try to find out.

Based on ordinary experience, you can tell how a force exerted on a body
affects its motion. Consider a ball on the top of the table as shown in figure 1.

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 Figure 1

Will the ball move by itself? ______________

How can you make the ball move? _________________________________.
In what direction will it move? ______________________________________

In the above activity, the ball will not merely

move by itself. If someone pushes the ball, it will move
or it will roll across the surface of the table in the
direction you push it. If you push it harder, it moves
faster. Force can be described in terms of what it does.
It can make object move, move faster, stop or change
direction of motion. Hence, a force can produce a
change in velocity (and causes an object to accelerate).
You learned that when the velocity of a moving body
changes, we describe the motion as one with
acceleration. This means that a body accelerates
whenever there is a change in speed; change in
direction, or a change in both the speed and direction.

ENGAGE

Is there any relationship between acceleration

and any unbalanced force that acts on the body?

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 Concept cartoon

The illustration below shows two person setting on the swing, person 1 with a
mass of 36 kg and person 2 with a mass of 65 kg. Vince, Bea and Andrei were arguing
about the acceleration of the two person on the swing. To whom statement you agree
with and why?

Person 2
Person 1

I agree with the idea of_______________________________

because________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
____________________________

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 Good job in finishing the activity! Now, take time
to process the information given in the concept cartoon,
you will go back to your answer after the succeeding
activity.

EXPLORE!
Effect of Force and Mass on Acceleration

What will you do??

In this activity, you will investigate the effect of
force on the box with constant mass and the
effect of changing mass of the box on
acceleration.

Part A Force & Acceleration

To investigate the effect of force on acceleration, analyze the illustration below.

Guide questions:

1. Is there acceleration when you push the box? Why?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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 2. In which situation the box will accelerate more? ________________________
Why do you say so? ______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. How would you relate force and acceleration? _________________________
______________________________________________________________

Part B
Mass & Acceleration
To determine the effect of different masses on acceleration of an object,
analyze the situation below;

Guide questions:
1. In which situation the object accelerates more? _______________________
Why do you say so? ______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. How would you relate mass and acceleration? _________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

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 If you have available materials indicated in the next activity,
you can perform the activity at home. I know you will enjoy
this activity, so have a try!

Structured Inquiry on Effect of Force and Mass on Acceleration

(Note: This is a slight modification of an activity shown at you tube channel –

Npmmscience)

Materials:
2 pcs 12” Ruler with a center groove Cube
Dice (different sizes) Golf Ball/metal ball
Pingpong ball/plastic ball Marble
Weighing Scale/Kitchen Scale

Procedure:

Part A
1. Weigh balls separately prior to the activity. The weights of the ball represents
the amount of force acting on the dice.
2. Set up the materials. Use one ruler as a ramp (one cube high at one end as
shown in the illustration below).

April R. Gersalia, Feb. 18, 2019, BNHS Science Laboratory Bulan Sorsogon

3. Place the dice to one end of the ramp, dice must slide but not roll when hit by
the ball.
4. Position the ball on the top of the ramp and gently release it.
5. Measure the distance moved by the dice from the end of the ramp to the
closest part of the dice.
6. Repeat step 3 using different ball.
7. Tabulate the data as follows:

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 Weight of the ball Displacement of the dice
Ball
(Kg) (m)

Guide questions:
1. Which release accelerates faster, a pingpong (plastic ball) ball or a golf
ball (metal ball)? Why?
2. Does the weight of the ball affect the displacement of the dice?
3. How is force related to acceleration?

=========================================================

Part B.
1. Pick one ball (a golf ball preferably). Use the same set up in activity
part A
2. This time use dice with different mass (plastic dice, Foam dice, or any
available similar materials)
3. Place the dice to one end of the ramp, dice must slide but not roll when
hit by the ball.
4. Position the ball on the top of the ramp and gently release it.
5. Measure the distance moved by the dice from the end of the ramp to
the closest part of the dice.
6. Repeat step 3 to make 3 trials using different dice (mass).
7. Tabulate the data as follows:

Mass of the Dice Displacement of the dice

Dice
(Kg) (m)
1
2
3

Guide questions:
1. Which dice accelerate faster? Why?
2. If the same net force acts on dice, what happens to its acceleration as its
mass increases?
3. How is mass related to acceleration?

Npmmscience. (n.d.). Npmmscience. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9d_HNlR6LBubPUhTjaVInQ

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 EXPLAIN

The first part of the activity tells us that the greater the unbalanced force, the
greater the acceleration of the body being acted upon.
Thus if we push on a car with a certain force F1 and at another time push it
twice as hard, it will have acceleration twice that as the first
If the net acting on an object is constant, its velocity changes at a constant rate
over time. Hence, it is considered to be moving with constant acceleration. But if the
force acting on the object is changed, its acceleration will also change. When the net
force is doubled, acceleration is also doubled. When it is tripled, acceleration is also
tripled. We can therefore say that at constant mass, the acceleration of an object is
directly proportional to the magnitude of the unbalanced force F acting on it. The
relationship between Net force and acceleration can be summarized as follows:
For a constant mass, acceleration is directly proportional to the applied force.
Similarly, when the force was kept constant, doubling the mass of the cart (by
adding an equal load) decreased the acceleration to about half its first value.
The second part of the activity tell us the effect of the mass of an object to the
acceleration produced when a force acts on it. The greater the mass of an object, the
greater the amount of matter has to be accelerated. Hence the applied force will have
less effect. If a given force acts on two different objects, the acceleration of an object
with greater mass will be less than the acceleration of another object with a smaller
mass. Thus we say that the acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to its
mass.
The force is equal to the product of the mass and the acceleration. If the force
applied on a mass is doubled, the acceleration is also doubled but if the mass is
doubled and the amount of force remains the same, the acceleration is reduced to ½.

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 To visually relate force, mass and acceleration, consider the diagram below:

Diagram 1

In diagram 1, at a given mass, to have a greater acceleration, you will need a

greater amount of force.

Diagram 2

In diagram 2, At a given applied force, the greater the mass, the lesser the
acceleration or to have a lesser acceleration you have to have a greater mass.

If you combine these two relationships, you would come up with this
relationship:

Law of acceleration
“ The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
net force acting on it and is inversely proportional to its mass.”

This can be expressed in equation form as:

Acceleration = Net force/mass

a = F
m

Now go back to the concept cartoon and figure it out if

your chosen statement is correct or not.

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 ELABORATE!
Consider the situation below:
A group of students conducted an experiment to
determine the relationship between the force acting on the
object and its acceleration and the effect of changing mass
to its acceleration.

Part A Force & Acceleration

To investigate the effect of force on acceleration, Students tied a piece of string

to the other end of the cart, then hang the end of the string on the edge of the table,
as shown in the picture below.

The set of weights served as the force on the cart.

Students measured 1 meter as the displacement of the cart. Student hold the
cart while placing 250 g (0.25kg) weights at the holder, then with the timer on, they
release the cart and kept the record of the cart’s motion. They repeat the steps to
make the 2nd trial by replacing the weights of 500 g (0.50 kg). Then used 750 g (0.75
kg) weights for the 3rd trial.
They tabulated the experimental results as follows:

Mass of Acceleration (m/s2) =

Force applied (N)
Trial cart Force applied / mass
=weights used (Kg) x 9.8 m/s2
(Kg) of the cart
1 0.20

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 2 0.20

3 0.20

✓ To compute for the force applied, multiply the weight

used in Kg to 9.8 m/s2.
✓ To compute for the acceleration, divide the force
applied (N) with the mass of the cart.

Guide questions:
1. Does the acceleration of the cart change as they change the amount of force
applied? (refer to column 4) ________________________
2. What happened to the acceleration of the cart as the weights on the holder
increased? ___________________________________________________
3. How is force related to acceleration? _______________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Part B
Mass & Acceleration
To determine the effect of different masses on acceleration of an object, the
students set up the same apparatus they used in previous activity part A. They used
one set of weight (500 g) as the constant pulling force. They made a record of an
empty cart’s motion from rest which is 0.20 kg. Then, place a load on the cart and
record the cart’s motion as shown in the picture below.

They repeat the steps to make 3 trials using the same accelerating force but
with different amount of load. For trial 1 they used 0.25 kg load, for trial two they used
0.50 kg, and 1 kg for trial 3. They tabulated their data as follows:

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 Total mass of cart = Acceleration (m/s2) =
Force Applied (N) =
Trial mass of cart + mass Force applied / total
weight used x 9.8 m/s2
of load in Kg mass of cart
1 4.9

2 4.9

3 4.9

✓ To compute for the force applied, multiply the weight

used in Kg to 9.8 m/s2.
✓ To compute for the total mass of the cart, add the
mass of the cart which is 0.20 kg to the mass of the
load in kg.
✓ To compute for the acceleration, divide the force
applied (N) with the total mass of the cart.

Guide questions:
1. Does the acceleration of the cart change as you change the amount of mass or
load? _________________________________________________________
2. If the same net force acts on the cart, what happens to its acceleration as its
mass increases? ________________________________________________
3. How is mass related to acceleration? _________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

4. What is the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration?

One of the most common experiences with Newton’s second law is driving a
car. The engine produces force in the forward direction to accelerate the car. The
brakes on the other hand produce force in the opposite direction to slow down.
Q1. Suppose you are about to cross along a pedestrian lane. You see a car on your
left that is slowing down as it approaches the pedestrian lane. Are you going to
cross? Why or why not?

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___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
What if you see a heavy truck moving with the same speed as the car, are
you going to do the same thing? Why?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Law of acceleration says that the object with less mass has a greater
change in velocity in a given period of time than the one with greater mass. It also
means that greater force is needed to slow down a heavy object than a lighter one
with the same period of time.

You have noticed in the previous situations given that only a slight force was
needed to move object with lesser load, while it took a greater force to move object
with heavy load. Note also that a truck which had a bigger mass, is more difficult to
decelerate than a car.
The resistance offered by bodies to any change in its state of rest or motion is
called inertia. Inertia is the tendency of the body to remain in its position (at rest or in
motion). It is measured in terms of mass. One factor of inertia is the mass of an object.
A body having greater mass has greater inertia.
Galileo was the first to explain the phenomenon of inertia, but it was Newton
who formulated it into a law – the law of inertia or the first law of motion, which states:
Bodies at rest will remain at rest and bodies in motion will continue moving at constant
speed in a straight path unless acted upon by a net force.

EXTEND

Based from concepts learned in previous

activity, try to explain the effect of law of
acceleration in the following situations:

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Situation 1: wagon 1 and wagon 2 with the same mass

Wagon 1 Wagon 2

Two wagons, each having the same mass, but pulled by a different number of
horses, which implies different forces F1 and F2. This situation has the following
implications:
1. A greater number of horses implies ________________________________.
2. Since a greater force is pulling Wagon 2, ___________________________

Conclusion: At a given mass, the greater the force, the greater the acceleration,
or to have a greater acceleration, you will need a greater amount of force.

Situation 2: Wagon 1 and 2 with the same applied force F.

Wagon 1 Wagon 2

In this situation, we also have two wagons, pulled by the same number of
horse, indicating the same force applied. The difference however is that Wagon 1
has less load than Wagon 2. This situation has the following implications:
1. More loads in Wagon 2 indicate ____________________________________
2. Since Wagon 2 is heavier, ________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Conclusion: At a given applied force, the greater the mass, the lesser the
acceleration, or to have a lesser acceleration you have to have a greater mass.

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 Aside from the given example above, cite other
applications of the law of acceleration in real life
situation…

Evaluate

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter that corresponds to the correct answer.
1. Law of acceleration tells us the effect of mass of an object to the acceleration.
When the force applied is constant, what is the relationship of mass and
acceleration?
a. Equal c. in the same direction
b. Directly proportional d. inversely proportional

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2. Suppose a cart is being moved by a force. If suddenly a load is dumped into
the cart so that the cart’s mass doubles, what happens to the cart’s
acceleration?
a. It doubles b. it halves c. it quadruplets d. it quarters
3. If you want to accelerate a bigger mass, what are you going to do?
a. Apply a bigger force c. Apply a force equal to the mass
b. Apply a lesser force d. Apply unequal force
4. How does the force on a moving object affect its acceleration when the mass
remains the same?
a. For the same amount of load, the greater the force exerted, the greater is
the acceleration.
b. For the same amount of load, the greater the force exerted, the lesser is
the acceleration.
c. For the same amount of load, the lesser the force exerted, the greater is
the acceleration.
d. For the same amount of load, the force applied will have less effect on
acceleration.
5. If a given force acts on two different objects, the acceleration of an object with
a greater mass will be ___________
a. greater than the acceleration of another object with a smaller mass.
b. less than the acceleration of another object with a smaller mass.
c. equal to another object with a smaller mass.
d. unrelated

Congratulations on finishing the supplementary

learning module! You have just had an amazing
learning journey and for sure, you will have the same in
the succeeding modules.

Let’s go!!

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 The following terms used in this module are defined as follows:
Motion generally refers to a change in the position of an object. You can determine the
motion of an object through the distance travelled, the time interval to reach the distance, and
the speed.
Acceleration is the rate at which an object’s speed (or direction) changes per unit time.
Force is a push or pull upon the an object resulting from the object’s interaction with
another object..
Mass is the quantity of matter a body contains.
Weight is the force on a body due to gravity.
Inertia is the property of a body that tends to resist a change in its state of motion.
Newton is the amount of force required to give a 1 – kg mass an acceleration of 1 m/s2
or 1 newton = 1 kg – m/s2

Directly proportional as one amount increases, another amount increases at the

same rate.
Inversely Proportional when one value decreases at the same rate that the other
increases.

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 Answer Keys

Pre-Test Answer Keys

1. C
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. B

Explore!
Effect of forces and mass on acceleration
Part A
1. Yes. Because of applied force, the box will accelerate.
2. The box in situation 1 and situation 2 will both accelerate, since greater force (two
person) is pushing on the box in situation 2, then it will have greater acceleration.
3. The acceleration of the box increases with the net or unbalanced force
applied on it. Or as the amount of force applied on the box increases, the
acceleration of the cart also increases. Therefore, at constant mass, the
acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of
unbalanced force acting on it.
Part B
1. Situation 2.
Object in situation 2 is smaller than object in situation 1. Lesser mass means greater
acceleration. Since object in situation 1 is heavier, the man will have a harder time
applying force to make it move, thus it will have a lesser acceleration
2. Acceleration is directly proportional to the net force acting on the body and inversely
proportional to its mass

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 Structured Inquiry on Effect of Force and Mass on
Acceleration

Part A
1. Which release accelerates faster, a pingpong ball(plastic ball) or a golf ball
(metal ball)? Why?
1. Golf ball, because it is heavier than pingpong ball. When the net force is
doubled, acceleration is also doubled.
2. Does the weight of the ball affect the displacement of the dice?
2. yes
3. How is force related to acceleration?
3. At constant mass, the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the
magnitude of unbalanced force acting on it.

Part B
1. Which dice accelerate faster? Why?
4. Small dice(light object) accelerate faster than large dice.
2. If the same net force acts on dice, what happens to its acceleration as its
mass increases?
5. As the mass of dice increases, the acceleration decreases. Or the heavier the
dice is, the shorter its displacement.
3. How is mass related to acceleration?
6. The heavier the dice is, the shorter the displacement. As the mass of the dice
increases, with the same amount of force applied(ball), its acceleration
decreases.

Elaborate!
Part A

Mass of Acceleration (m/s2) =

Force applied (N)
Trial cart Force applied / mass
=weights used (Kg) x 9.8 m/s2
(Kg) of the cart
1 0.20 2.45 12.25

2 0.20 4.9 24.5

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 3 0.20 7.35 36.75

Guide Questions:

1. Does the velocity of the cart change as you change the amount of force
applied (Weights)?
- yes
2. What happened to the acceleration of the cart as the weights on the holder
increased?
- As the weights on the holder increases, the acceleration of the cart also
increases.
3. How is force related to acceleration?
- The acceleration of the cart increases with the net or unbalanced force
applied on it. Or as the amount of force applied on the cart increases, the
acceleration of the cart also increases. Therefore, at constant mass, the
acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of
unbalanced force acting on it.

Part B

Total mass of cart = Acceleration (m/s2) =

Force Applied (N) =
Trial mass of cart + mass Force applied / total
weight used x 9.8 m/s2
of load in Kg mass of cart
1 4.9 0.45 10.89

2 4.9 0.70 7.0

3 4.9 1.2 4.08

Guide questions:
7. Does the velocity of the cart change as you change the amount of mass or
load?
- yes
8. If the same net force acts on the cart, what happens to its acceleration as its
mass increases?
- As the mass or load of the cart increases, the acceleration of the cart
decreases.
9. How is mass related to acceleration?
- As the mass of the cart increases, with the same amount of force applied,
its acceleration decreases.

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 10. What is the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration?
- Acceleration is directly proportional to the net force acting on the body and
inversely proportional to its mass.

Extend!
Effects of law of acceleration
Situation 1
1. A greater number of horses implies a greater force applied on Wagon 2
2. Since greater force is pulling wagon 2, Wagon 2 will have a greater
acceleration.
Situation 2.
1. More loads in Wagon 2 indicate it has a greater mass, which makes it
heavier.
2. Since Wagon 2 is heavier, the horse will have a harder time applying
force to make it move, thus it will have a lesser acceleration.

Sample answer
1. When designing a racing car
2. Marathon

Post-Test Answer Keys

ASSESS WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

1. D
2. B
3. A
4. A
5. B

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Science Learners’ Module
Physics – Science and Technology textbook for fourth year pp. 89 - 94
Science & technology for lifelong learning. Mapa A. & Campos M. R.
pp. 113 – 114
Science and technology IV SEDP Series pp. 88 – 92
Science & Technology 1 e – science the next generation Santos &
Ocampo pp. 98 – 100
Cartoon Horse Pulling Cart Vector Images (18). (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vectors/cartoon-horse-pulling-
cart-vectors

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