Newton's Second Law in weather forecasting.

The daily weather forecast provides a good example for an application of Newton's Second Law. It is based on the calculation of the balance of forces in the atmosphere:

Newton's Second Law states that the acceleration a of a particle with mass m on which acts a force F can be determined from the equation

F = ma

In the atmosphere the acting forces are

• the gravitational attraction of the Earth,
• the centrifugal force from the Earth's rotation,
• atmospheric pressure differences, and
• friction.

A numerical computer model takes all these forces into account to calculate the total force F and uses Newton's law to determine the acceleration of the air particles a, i.e. wind speed and direction.

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