Figbox
Sign up

Force, mass and acceleration sim

The pull on the trolley is the weight of the hanging masses: each 20 g mass weighs 0.2 N.

Force, mass and acceleration · covers the GCSE, IGCSE, O-Level topic

Live, not a video. Anyone can unlock 2 figures free; a free account unlocks up to 5 and keeps them in your dashboard.

What the sim shows

The pull on the trolley is the weight of the hanging masses: each 20 g mass weighs 0.2 N. The mass being accelerated is everything that moves, trolley, bars and all five slotted masses, wherever they sit. So moving masses from the trolley to the hanger changes the force but not the mass. With 3 masses pulling, F = 0.6 N on m = 1.0 kg: a = F ÷ m = 0.6 m/s². The gate times the 5 cm card; speed = card ÷ time, and a = v² ÷ 2s. Doubling F doubles a; doubling m halves a: F = m a. The runway is tilted just enough to cancel friction (too little to see). Taking g = 10 N/kg.

  • The light beam, cut by the card
  • Below: one point a run

Use it in your lessons

  • Try it here: anyone can unlock 2 figures free, and a free account unlocks up to 5. Runs on a laptop, a Chromebook or a phone; nothing to install.
  • Present it and share student links with the teacher plan, from US$5 a month, billed yearly.
  • Put it on your own website or LMS for US$9, paid once, or every sim from US$29 a month.

Free guide: 12 practicals as sims, and how to run one in a lesson →

Need a version for your exact set-up? Have one made: US$49 a figure in an order of 5.

More physics sims