KS3 Forces

Types of Forces Measuring Forces Force Diagrams

Contact Forces Forces are measured in newtons (N). You can’t see forces but you can see their effects.
Contact forces act between objects
Forces can be measured using a newton meter. We add force arrows to a diagram to show which forces are acting.
that are physically touching each other.
The arrows show the direction and the size of the force (the longer
friction – The force between two the arrow, the bigger the force).
surfaces that are sliding, or trying to
The force arrows should touch the object in the diagram.
slide, past each other.

air resistance – The force that acts

in the opposite direction to an object’s
movement as it moves through the air.

reaction – The force that supports an

object on a solid surface. Interaction Pairs
Mass and Weight Mass
tension – The force transmitted Forces always act in pairs.
through a rope, string or wire when The moon has a smaller gravitational field strength than the Earth. This Mass is the amount of matter an object is made
The person’s weight pushes down on the chair. means that an object or person would weigh less on the moon. Their mass up of. Mass is measured in kilograms (kg).
pulled by forces acting on each end.
would remain the same.
The reaction force from the chair pushes the The value of mass will stay the same when the
upthrust – The upward force exerted
person up. location of the object changes.
by a fluid on an object floating in it.

Weight

Weight is the total amount of force acting on

Non-Contact Forces
an object due to gravity. Weight is measured in
Non-contact forces act between newtons (N).
objects without them physically
touching each other. The value of weight will change depending on the
gravitational field strength acting on the object.
gravitational force – The force acting
on an object due to gravity. To calculate weight we use the equation:

magnetic force – The force exerted weight = mass × gravitational field strength
by a magnetic field on a magnetic Force Fields
material. The gravitational field strength on Earth is
Non-contact forces act in fields. The field is
10N/kg.
electrostatic force – The force that the area around the object where the force is mass: 65kg
acts between two charged objects. exerted. weight 104N
As an object gets farther away from the
object exerting a force, the field gets weaker. mass: 65kg
For example, if a magnetic object is farther from
weight 650N
a magnet, it will experience a smaller force of
attraction towards the magnet.

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 KS3 Forces
Balanced Forces Changing Speed Reducing Resistive Forces Changing Shape

When the forces acting on an object are the same If the driving force is bigger than the Friction can be reduced by using lubrication. Elastic objects can be compressed or stretched by forces. When an
size but in opposite directions, we say that the resistive forces acting on an object, the Lubrication is grease or oil that helps two object is changed in these ways, we say it is deformed.
forces are balanced. When this happens, the object will speed up (accelerate). surfaces move past each other more easily.
object is in a state of equilibrium. There will be
no change to the motion of the object: a stationary When the driver presses the accelerator Having a smaller surface area in contact with a
object will remain stationary and a moving object in a car, the driving force increases so the surface will also reduce the amount of friction.
will continue to move at a constant speed in the car speeds up.
same direction. Drag forces, like water resistance and air
resistance, can be reduced by making objects
more streamlined. The amount that an object is stretched is called the extension.

If the resistive forces on an object are

larger than the driving force, the object
will slow down. Hooke’s Law

When the person releases their parachute, The extension of some elastic objects can be described by Hooke’s law.
the force of air resistance is larger than
Changing Direction force (N) = spring constant (N/m) × extension (m)
Unbalanced Forces their weight so they will slow down.
The gravitational field around the Earth keeps
Spring constant is a measure of the stiffness of a material. It
Unbalanced forces act in opposite directions but the Moon in orbit. The Moon is moving at a
indicates the force needed to change the length of a material by 1m.
are not the same size. One force is greater than constant speed but the Earth’s gravity pulls
the other. it towards the Earth, so the Moon moves in a The greater the spring constant, the greater the force needed to
circular path around the Earth. stretch the material.
If forces are unbalanced there will be a change in
the motion of the object. It may speed up, slow If you plot the extension of a spring against the force applied to the
down or change direction. spring the results give a straight line through the origin.

The graph shows that if you double the force, the extension also
doubles.

Hooke’s law states that 10

extension is directly
proportional to the force 8

Extension (cm)
applied.
6

0 1 2 3 4 5
Force (N)

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