Class 8 Science — Chapter 5: Exploring Forces

Chapter 5: Exploring Forces

Introduction: The Cycling Story
● Sonali and Ragini go cycling on a windy day. Riding against the wind, they feel the wind pushing them back,
so they pedal harder to keep moving.
● Going uphill, some parts of the road are rough (harder to pedal) and some are smooth (easier to pedal).
● Coming downhill, their bicycles speed up on their own, without pedalling — something is “pulling” them
down the slope.
● Key idea: All these everyday experiences — wind pushing, pedalling being harder or easier, rolling downhill
without effort — involve a common science concept called FORCE. This chapter explores what a force is,
what it can do, and its different types.

5.1 What Is a Force?

● Force: In science, the push or pull applied on an object is called a force.

5.2 What Can a Force Do to the Objects on Which It Is Applied?

Situations where force is applied, and the effect of the force in each case:
[Link]. Action Push/Pull Effect

1. Friend holding your moving bicycle from behind to Pull Stopping/decreasing the speed of the
stop it bicycle

2. Hitting a moving ball with a bat Push Changing the direction of the moving ball

3. Pressing an inflated balloon Push Change in the shape of the balloon

4. Stretching a rubber band Pull Change in the shape (length) of the band

5. Kicking a stationary football Push The ball starts moving from rest

● Conclusion: Yes — a force can stop a moving object, change its speed, change its direction of motion, or
change its shape.

In everyday life we apply force in many situations: opening a drawer, stretching a rubber band, a fielder stopping
a ball, kicking a football, applying brakes on a bicycle, rolling a chapati, or turning the steering handle of an
autorickshaw.

Effects of Force — A Force Applied on an Object May:

● Make an object move from rest.
● Change the speed of a moving object.
● Change the direction of motion of an object.
● Bring about a change in the shape of an object.
● Cause some or all of these effects together.

A Step Further
● If an object is at rest, does that mean no force acts on it at all? Not necessarily — it may mean that the
forces acting on it are BALANCING one another (balanced forces are studied in higher grades).

5.3 Are Forces an Interaction Between Two or More Objects?

● When you push a table, your hand is one object applying force on another object (the table) — your hand
and the table are said to be “interacting”.
● Inference: At least two objects must interact with each other for a force to come into play.

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 Class 8 Science — Chapter 5: Exploring Forces
● Force (formal definition): A force is a push or pull on an object resulting from the object’s interaction with
another object.
● SI unit of force: newton (written with a small ‘n’); symbol = N.

A Step Further
● Interaction is two-way: When you push a table with your hand, your hand also feels a force from the table.
The moment you stop pushing (the interaction ends), the force on your hand disappears too.

5.4 What Are the Different Types of Forces?

5.4.1 Contact Forces
● Contact force: A force that acts only when there is physical contact between two objects. The contact may
be direct (using hands/body) or indirect (using a stick or rope).

Muscular Force
● Muscular force: The force caused by the action (contraction and elongation) of muscles in the body,
produced during activities like walking, running, lifting, pushing, jumping or stretching.
● Animals, birds, fish and insects all use muscular force for movement and survival.
● Humans have long used the muscular force of animals (e.g., bullocks pulling a plough, horses pulling a cart)
to perform tasks.

Ever heard of… Muscular Force Inside the Body

● Muscular force helps us chew food and push it through the alimentary canal during digestion.
● The expansion and contraction of heart muscles allows blood to circulate through the body — essential for
survival.

Friction
A ball rolling on flat ground, or a bicycle that is not being pedalled, gradually slows down and stops on its own —
even though no visible push or pull seems to act on it. Some force must be acting to slow it down.

● An object with a flat base (lunch box/notebook) was gently pushed on a table. It slid for some distance and
then stopped on its own.
● Reason: A force acts between the two surfaces in contact (the object’s base and the table), opposite to the
direction of motion, which brings the object to rest.
● Pushing the object in the opposite direction gives the same result — it again stops after travelling some
distance, because the opposing force always acts against the direction of motion.

● Force of friction (friction): The force that comes into play when an object moves, or tries to move, over
another surface. Friction always acts opposite to the direction of motion (or attempted motion).
● Friction is a contact force, since it arises only when two surfaces are in contact.
● Cause of friction: Even surfaces that look smooth actually have many tiny (minute) irregularities. When two
surfaces touch, these irregularities lock into each other and oppose relative motion.

A Step Further
● Friction is not limited to solid surfaces — air, water and other liquids/gases also exert a force of friction on
objects moving through them.
● This is why aeroplanes, ships, boats and high-speed trains are given special streamlined shapes — to
reduce friction due to air or water.

5.4.2 Non-Contact Forces

● Non-contact force: A force whose effect can be experienced even when the two objects are NOT in
physical contact.

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 Class 8 Science — Chapter 5: Exploring Forces
Magnetic Force
● A magnet attracts objects made of magnetic materials. Like poles (N–N, S–S) repel each other; unlike poles
(N–S) attract each other. Electromagnets behave like magnets too.
● Magnetic force: The force exerted by a magnet on another magnet or on a magnetic material.

Electrostatic Force
● Static charges: Electrical charges that build up on the surface of an object when it is rubbed with another
object; they do not move by themselves.
● Electrostatic force: The force exerted by a charged body on another charged body, or on an uncharged
body. It is a non-contact force.

A Step Further
● When static charges move, they constitute an electric current in an electrical circuit — the same kind of
current that makes a lamp glow or produces heating/magnetic effects.

Gravitational Force
● Gravitational force (gravity / force of gravity): The force with which the Earth attracts objects towards
itself.
● Gravitational force acts without contact, so it is a non-contact force.
● Important distinction: Gravitational force is ALWAYS attractive (pull-only), unlike magnetic or electrostatic
force, which can be either attractive or repulsive.
● Vertical motion: When an object moves in a vertical direction (straight up or straight down) under the
influence of gravity — e.g. dropping an object (it falls straight down), or throwing it up (it rises, slows,
momentarily stops at the top, then falls back down with increasing speed).

5.5 Weight and Its Measurement

● Weight: The force with which the Earth pulls an object towards itself; it measures how strongly an object is
pulled by the Earth.
● SI unit of weight: Since weight is a force, it is measured in newton (N) — the same unit as force.

A Step Further: The Spring Balance

● A spring balance is a device used to measure weight (force). It has a spring fixed at one end and a hook at the
other.
● When an object is hung from the hook, the amount of stretch in the spring shows its weight on a scale marked in
newton (N).
● Most spring balances also show a second scale marked in grams (g), assuming the balance is used on Earth.

Mass vs Weight
● Mass: The amount of matter in an object; measured in grams (g) or kilograms (kg). Mass remains the
SAME everywhere.
● Weight: The gravitational force with which the Earth (or another planet) pulls an object. Since gravity varies
slightly place to place (and greatly from planet to planet), weight CAN change even though mass does not.

A Step Further
● Mass can be measured indirectly — either by measuring weight with a spring balance, or by comparing an
object’s weight with a known mass using a beam balance (since weight is nearly constant across the Earth’s
surface).
● Common language vs science: In everyday use we often say “weight” when we really mean mass (e.g.,
“the wheat bag weighs 10 kg”). Scientifically, this is incorrect — kg is a unit of mass, while weight should
always be expressed in newton (N).

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 Class 8 Science — Chapter 5: Exploring Forces

5.6 Floating and Sinking

Some objects placed on water float, while others sink — even though the Earth’s gravitational force acts on all of
them equally. Why doesn’t everything sink?
● When an object is placed in a liquid, two forces act on it: gravity (pulling it down) and buoyant force/upthrust
(pushing it up).
● If gravitational force > buoyant force: the object sinks.
● If gravitational force = buoyant force: the object floats.
● The buoyant force depends (among other factors) on the density of the liquid — density is studied in more
detail in a later chapter.

A Step Further: Archimedes’ Principle

● Archimedes (a famous Greek scientist) discovered that an object fully or partially immersed in a liquid
experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces.
● If the weight of liquid displaced is LESS than the object’s own weight — the object sinks.
● If the weight of liquid displaced EQUALS the object’s own weight — the object floats.

Ever heard of… Floating Rocks

● Pumice is a rock that can float on water! It forms during volcanic eruptions when lava full of gas and water
vapour cools very quickly, trapping tiny gas bubbles inside.
● This makes pumice a light, porous rock full of air pockets — making it less dense than water, so it floats.

Quick Reference: Types of Force at a Glance

Category Force Example

Contact force Muscular force Walking, lifting, an animal pulling a cart

Contact force Friction (force of friction) A rolling ball slowing down and stopping

Non-contact force Magnetic force A magnet attracting/repelling another magnet

Non-contact force Electrostatic force A charged scale attracting bits of paper

Non-contact force Gravitational force A fruit falling from a tree

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