Sunday 23 August 2015

newtonian mechanics - In perfect vacuum (no external force), if I apply a small amount of force to a body, will it continue to accelerate forever?


According to the equation $F = ma$, the greater the force applied to a body, the greater its acceleration. But in a place where there is no gravity or any other kind of external force, if I apply a force to a body, will it continue to move forever with a uniform velocity, or will it continue to accelerate forever?




Answer



The object accelerates while the force is applied to it. When the force stops acting on the object the object maintains it's current momentum (therefore it's velocity) until another force is applied to the object.


Because of e=mc^2 however, the amount of force required to for a given amount of acceleration will become greater and greater until you reacha point where you need infinite force to acclerate an object past a certain point (the speed of light).


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