What is a Free Body Diagram?
● A Free Body Diagram (FBD) is like drawing a simple picture of an object to show all the
forces acting on it.
- We usually draw the object as a box, dot, or simple shape.
- We draw arrows to show the forces.
- The arrows point in the direction of the force and are labeled so we know what
they are.
Why do we use Free Body Diagrams?
● They help us see clearly what forces are acting on something. That way, we can tell if
the object will:
- stay still, move, speed up, slow down, or stay balanced.
- The purpose of making a free body diagram is to identify what type of force is
acting up on an object, whether it is moving or not.
Types of Forces
Think of forces as "pushes" or "pulls." Here are the common ones:
● Force of gravity → Always pulling objects down.
● Force of tension → From strings, ropes, or cables pulling.
● Force of spring → From a stretched or squished spring.
● Force of friction → When two surfaces rub against each other.
● Force of air resistance → When air pushes against something moving through it.
● Normal force → When a surface pushes up against an object resting on it.
● Applied force → When a person pushes or pulls something.
Steps to Draw a Free Body Diagram
1. Draw an arrow for each force in the direction it acts.
2. Label the arrow with the type of force.
3. Make the arrow size match the strength of the force.
- A longer arrow = stronger force.
- A shorter arrow = weaker force.
● Sizes of arrows are important to determine what kind of force is acting up more than the
other forces in the object, when arrows are not the same size, then the forces present in
an object is unbalanced.
Example 1: A book on a table
● Forces: gravity (down) and normal force (up).
- They are the same strength, so they cancel out.
- The book stays still.
● At rest objects are balanced, as the image shows that the arrows have the same length
which adds to the reason why the forces are balanced.
Example 2: A book hanging on a string
● Forces: gravity (down) and tension (up).
- They have the same strength.
- The book stays still.
● Since this book is at rest, the up and down force is balanced and they have the same
strength which means the arrows have the same length.
Example 3: A crate pushed across the floor at constant speed
● Forces: Gravity (down), Normal force (up), Applied force (right), Friction (left)
● Technically, there’s always gravity present
- The crate is touching the floor, the floor pushes up the crate; this is what you call
the normal force
- Since the person is pushing the crate to the right, the force that is acting up to the
right is applied force (whether u call it normal force or applied force its the same)
- Since the crate is rubbing to the floor as it slides to the right, there’s a friction
force that is directed to the left (which always opposes the motion of the object.)
● Extra Note: Constant speed means the forces are balanced.
Example 4: A skydiver falling down faster and faster
● Forces: Gravity (down), Air resistance (up)
● This is a non-contact force, the earth pulls down the skydiver and that is gravity.
● When objects accelerate downward, the downward force is stronger than the upward
force.
● Since the skydiver is accelerating downwards, therefore we make the downward force
arrow bigger than the upward force, not because it’s moving downwards but because it’s
accelerating downwards.