Forces

1.5.1 Balanced and Unbalanced forces

1 Identify and use different types of force, including weight (gravitational
force), friction, drag, air resistance, tension (elastic force), electrostatic force,
magnetic force, thrust (driving force) and contact force
●​ A force can be defined as a push or a pull due to interaction between objects.
●​ There are two types of force:
1.​ Contact forces: Forces that exist between objects that are in contact.
2.​ Non-contact forces: Forces which exist between objects that are not in
contact.
●​ Non-contact forces:
○​ Gravitational Force: The pull exerted by Earth’s gravity on any object.
○​ Electrostatic Force: The attractive or repulsive forces between electric
charges (like charges repel and unlike charges attract)
○​ Magnetic force: The attractive or repulsive forces between magnets (like
poles repel and unlike poles attract).
●​ Contact forces:
○​ Friction: The force that opposes or tends to oppose motion between
surfaces in contact. Friction always acts at the point where the objects
are in contact, and in the opposite direction to the direction of motion.
○​ Air Resistance: The frictional force exerted by air that opposes the
motion of moving objects
○​ Tension: The pull exerted by a stretched spring, string or rope on an
object attached to it or the force experienced by it when pulled, hung,
rotated or supported.
○​ Normal Force: The push exerted by a surface on an object pressing on it.
This push is always perpendicular to the surface. This force arises from
Newton’s Third Law.
○​ Thrust(driving force): It is a force that pushes an object forward,
produced when the object pushes mass backward (such as air, water, or
exhaust gases)
○​ Drag Force: When a solid interacts with a fluid a drag force is produced
on the solid body. It always acts on the opposite direction to fluid flow.
2 Identify forces acting on an object and draw free-body diagram(s)
representing the forces
●​ Free body diagrams are useful for modelling the forces that are acting on an
object.
●​ Each force us represented as a vector arrow, where each arrow:
○​ Is scaled to the magnitude of the force it represents
○​ Points in the direction that the force acts
○​ Is labelled with the name of the force it represents
●​ Free body diagrams can be used:
○​ To identify which forces act in which plane
○​ To resolve the net force in a particular direction.

Fig: Example of a free body diagram

●​ A dot or a box can be used to represent the objects in a free-body diagrams.
●​ When forces are angular:
○​
3 State Newton’s first law as ‘an object either remains at rest or continues to
move in a straight line at constant speed unless acted on by a resultant force.
●​ Newton’s 1st law of motion states that every object will continue in its state of
rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless a resultant force acts on it.
●​ When the resultant force acting on an object is zero, we say that the forces
acting on the object are balanced.
●​ Newton’s first law is related to inertia.
●​ Inertia of an object refers to the reluctance of an object to change its state of
rest or motion, due to its mass.
●​ The greater the mass, the greater the inertia of an object.
4 State that a force may change the velocity of an object by changing its
direction of motion or its speed
●​ As velocity is a vector quantity, changing the direction of motion of an object
will causes its velocity to change.
●​ This can be observed in circular motion.
●​ Forces can change the velocity of an object in this way.
5 Determine the resultant of two or more forces acting along the same straight
line
●​ Resultant force is the net force acting on an object that is a combined effect of
all the forces operating on the object.
●​ The resultant force determines:
○​ The direction in which the object will move as a result of all of the
forces
○​ The magnitude of the final force experienced by the object.
●​ Forces can combine to produce:
○​ Balanced forces: The forces have combined in such a way (equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction) that they cancel each other out and
there is no resultant force acting on the body.
○​ Unbalanced forces: The forces have combined in such a way that they do
not cancel out completely and there is a resultant force on the object.
■​ The direction of the resultant force will be in the direction of the
bigger force.
■​ The magnitude of the resultant force can be found by:
●​ Subtracting forces working in opposite direction.
●​ Adding forces working in the same direction.

6 Recall and use the equation resultant force = mass × acceleration, F = ma.
●​ Newton’s 2nd law of motion states that when a resultant force acts on an object
of a constant mass, the object will accelerate in the direction of the resultant
force
●​ In other words, F=ma
●​ One newton is defined as the force that produces an acceleration of 1.0 m/s2 on
a mass of 1.0 kg
7 State Newton’s third law as ‘when object A exerts a force on object B, then
object B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A’
●​ Newton’s 3rd law of motion states that if body A exerts a force on body B, then
body B will exert an equal and opposite force on body A.
●​ In other words, for every action, their is an equal and opposite reaction.
8 Know that Newton’s third law describes pairs of forces of the same type
acting on different objects
●​ Newton’s third law states that forces occur in pairs.
●​ The two forces are of the same type (e.g. both gravitational or both contact
forces).
●​ The forces act on different objects, so they do not cancel each other out. Only
forces acting on the same object can cancel.
●​ Action–reaction pairs always act simultaneously.
●​ For example, when a book rests on a table—
○​ The book exerts a downwards contact force on the table
○​ The table exerts an upward contact force on the book.
○​ These two forces are equal in size, opposite in direction, the same type
of force, and acts on different objects.
○​ They do not cancel out. The weight and the normal force, however, cancel
out to keep the book stationary

1.5.2 Friction

1 Describe friction as a force that may impede motion and produce heating
●​ The force that opposes or tends to oppose motion between surfaces in contact
is known as friction. Friction always acts at the point where the objects are in
contact, and in the opposite direction to the direction of motion.
●​ When friction is present, energy is transferred in the form of heat. This raises
the temperature (thermal energy) of the object and its surroundings.
●​ The work done against the frictional forces causes this rise in the temperature.
●​ In solids, friction is the result of irregularities between surfaces (sometimes at
a microscopic level)

●​ Drag is a type of friction that acts on objects moving through gases and liquid as
the particles collide with the object.
 ●​ Air resistance is another type of friction that slows the motion of an object.
Particles bump into the object as it moves through the air. As a result, the
object heats up due to the work done against the frictional forces.

2 Understand the motion of objects acted on by a constant weight or driving

force, with and without drag (including air resistance or resistance in a liquid)

3 Explain how an object reaches terminal velocity

●​ Objects acted on by a constant weight or driving force and without drag will
move with a constant acceleration, according to newton’s second law of motion.
●​ Objects falling without air resistance, and with no other force other than its
own weight, will free fall with a constant acceleration of 9.8 m/s2.
●​ When an object is moving with drag:
○​ Initially, the object is moving slowly, so drag is very small. So the driving
force is almost equal to the net force. This allows the object to
accelerate.
○​ As the object speeds up, drag increases. This causes the net force to
decrease and the acceleration reduces as a result.
○​ The object decelerates until its driving force becomes equal to the drag
force. Net force and acceleration becomes zero.
○​ The object moves at a constant speed called terminal velocity.
●​ If both driving force and drag is present, like in a rocket:
○​ If weight is opposite the direction of motion, terminal velocity is reached
when driving force is equal to the drag force and weight combined
○​ If weight is in the same direction as motion (downwards), terminal
velocity is reached when driving force combined with weight is equals the
drag force.

4 Define the thinking distance, braking distance and stopping distance of a

moving vehicle
●​ The stopping distance of a car can be defined as the total distance travelled by
a car to stop from the time it sees an obstacle to the time it stops.
●​ Thinking distance is the distance travelled in the time it takes the driver to
react in meters (m)
●​ Braking distance is the distance travelled under the braking force in.
●​ Stopping distance is the sum of the thinking distance and the braking distance.
●​ For a given braking force, the greater the speed, the greater the stopping
distance.
 ●​ Thinking distance increases with speed because the car travels further in the
same reaction time.

5 Explain the factors that affect thinking and braking distance including speed,
tiredness, alcohol, drugs, load, tyre surface and road conditions
●​ Factors affecting thinking distance:
○​ Speed: Higher speed will mean a greater distance travelled in the same
reaction time. Hence, thinking distance increases.
○​ Tiredness: Tiredness leads to slower reactions. Reaction time increases,
leading to an increased thinking distance
○​ Alcohol: Alcohol impairs judgement and slows reactions. Reaction time
increases, leading to an increased thinking distance.
○​ Drugs: Reduce alertness and coordination. This increases reaction time
and thinking distance.
●​ Factors affecting braking distance:
○​ Speed: At higher speed the car has more kinetic energy, so the brakes
must do more work to remove this energy, requiring a longer braking
distance.
○​ Load: When mass is greater, the car will have more kinetic energy
(according to the equation of kinetic energy). This means the brakes must
do more work to remove this energy, requiring a longer braking distance.
○​ Tyre surface: Worn out or smooth tyres have less friction and hence
require a longer braking distance. On the contrary, new tyres have more
friction and hence require shorter braking distance.
○​ Road conditions: Wet, icy or oily roads have reduced friction leading to a
longer braking distance. Dry, rough roads have increased friction leading
to a shorter braking distance.
1.5.3 Elastic Deformation
1 Know that forces may produce a change in size and shape of an object
2 Define the spring constant as force per unit extension; recall and use the
equation spring constant = force/extension, k=f/x
3 Sketch, plot and interpret load–extension graphs for an elastic solid and
describe the associated experimental procedures
4 Define and use the term ‘limit of proportionality’ for a load–extension graph
and identify this point on the graph (an understanding of the elastic limit is not
required)

1.5.4 Circular Motion

1 Describe, qualitatively, motion in a circular path due to a force perpendicular
to the motion as:
(a) speed increases if force increases, with mass and radius constant.
●​ Circular motion: Motion of an object along a circular path, caused by a force
acting perpendicular to its motion, directed towards the centre of the circle.
This force keeps the circle in a circular motion.
●​ If the force becomes stronger while the radius and mass remain the same, the
object must move faster along the circular path to balance the stronger inward
pull.
(b) radius decreases if force increases, with mass and speed constant.
●​ Keeping the speed constant, increasing the inwards force pulls the object closer
to the centre.
(c) an increased mass requires an increased force to keep speed and radius
constant (F = mv2/r is not required)
●​ A heavier object resists changes in motion more strongly (greater inertia)
●​ Similarly, it resists changes in direction more strongly
●​ To maintain the same speed along the same circular path, the inward force must
be stronger.
1.5.5 Turning Effects of Forces

1 Describe the moment of a force as a measure of its turning effect and give
everyday examples

2 Define the moment of a force as moment = force × perpendicular distance

from the pivot; recall and use this equation

3 State and use the principle of moments for an object in equilibrium

4 Describe an experiment to verify the principle of moments

1.5.6 Centre of Gravity

1 State what is meant by centre of gravity

2 Describe how to determine the position of the centre of gravity of a plane

lamina using a plumb line

3 Describe, qualitatively, the effect of the position of the centre of gravity on

the stability of simple objects