Mississippi Science PHY.2.1
The Standard
- PHY.2
- Students will develop an understanding of concepts related to Newtonian dynamics.
Identify forces acting on a system by applying Newton’s laws mathematically and graphically (e.g., vector and scalar quantities).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Newton’s Laws
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose one object to study and draw arrows for the forces acting on it. They use the arrows to find the net force, then use force equals mass times acceleration to calculate its acceleration. They treat force as a quantity with direction and mass as a quantity without direction.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a 5 kg box pulled right with 20 N against 5 N of friction, a student draws the forces and finds a 15 N net force right. They calculate an acceleration of 3 m/s² right and leave forces acting on other objects off the diagram.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may add forces pointing in opposite directions instead of subtracting their magnitudes. They may put an action-reaction pair on one object's diagram, though the forces act on different objects. They may assume a moving object must have a net force in its direction of motion.
How to Assess It
- A 4 kg box on a level floor has an 18 N pull right and 6 N of friction left. Have students draw the horizontal force arrows, then calculate the net force and acceleration.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Pull a toy cart across a desk with a spring scale, then have students draw and label every force on the cart.
Show a book resting on a table and ask, "Which forces act on the book, and why is its acceleration zero?"
Give pairs a 5 kg sled card and force cards; have them draw arrows, find the net force, and calculate acceleration.
Use a 1,200 kg car braking at 3 m/s²; have students draw force arrows and calculate the horizontal net force.
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Printable PHY.2.1 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- PHY.2.5
Use mathematical and computational analysis to derive simple equations of motion for various systems using Newton’s second law (e.g., net force equations).
- PHY.2.3
Use mathematical and graphical techniques to solve vector problems and find net forces acting on a body using free-body diagrams and/or online simulations.
- PHS.5.4
Use mathematical and computational analyses to show the relationships among force, mass, and acceleration (i.e., Newton’s second law).
- P.6.6.2
Use mathematical computation and diagrams to calculate the sum of forces acting on various objects.
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