Science Notes

Quarter I
Module I:
Lesson I: Forces
Force can be operationally defined based on observed effects. This means that a force can be
described in terms of what it does. However, forces do not always cause motion. It does not
necessarily follow that forces acting on an object will always cause it to move. Figures below are
examples where forces have tendency of changing the motion of an object or not.

What
can

forces do? Forces can produce changes in motion. What are these changes in motion?
 In Grade 7, you learned displacement, velocity, and acceleration. You conducted activities
wherein you understood and made visual representations of the motion of objects such as motion
graphs. The ideas were arrived at by studying examples of uniform motion or objects moving in
straight line at constant speed. Then you were introduced to non-uniform motion where the
object covers unequal displacements at equal intervals of time.

When a car starts moving, it speeds up. When a car nears a stop sign, it slows down. The car
is covering different displacements at equal time intervals, hence is not moving in constant
velocity. This means the car is accelerating.

Effect of Force on a Ball

You have observed that the ball moves once you push or pull it. This is called force. Consider
a ball on top of a table as shown in Figure 6. The ball will not move when there is no force
applied to it (Figure 6A).
If you push the ball, it will move or roll across the surface of the table (Figure 6B).
And when it is again pushed in the direction of its motion, it moves faster and even farther
(Figure 6B).
But when you push it on the other side instead, opposite to the direction of its motion, the ball
may slow down and eventually stop (Figure 6C).
Lastly, when you push it in a direction different from its original direction of motion, the ball
also changes its direction (Figure 6D).
In conclusion, force can make the ball, or any object move, move faster, stop, or change its
direction of motion. But, does this occur always? Can force always effect change in the state of
motion of an object?
To accurately describe the forces acting on an object, let us examine the figure below:

Figure 7 shows how force acts on a ball, but you need to be familiar with the following terms:
 Magnitude – refers to the size or strength of the force. It is commonly expressed in
Newton (N) for Meter-Kilogram-Second (MKS) system, Dyne (dyn) for Centimeter–
Gram–Second (CGS) system and pounds (lbs) for Foot– Pound–Second (FPS) system. In
the International System of Units (SI), Newton is commonly used which is named after
Sir Isaac Newton, an English physicist and mathematician.

 Direction – points to where the object goes. The direction of the arrowhead indicates the
direction of the force. The length of the arrow represents the amount of force (relative
magnitude).

 Point of Application – the location of where the force is applied.

 Line of Action – is the straight line passing through the point of application and is
parallel to the direction of force.
There are two types of force, namely:
Contact forces – forces where objects touch or contact with each other.
Examples of contact forces:
1) Applied – a force given to a person or object by another person or object. Its symbol is F
depending on who or what applies force to the object. If a boy applies a force to a wall,
we denote it with FBOY. Refer to the figure below.

2) Friction – is the force acting against or opposite an object in contact with which makes
the movement of the object slow down. Friction always opposes the motion of an object.
Its symbol is written as Ff. Air resistance denoted by FAIR is an example of frictional
force of the air against a flying kite, airplanes, parachutes or those in skydiving sports.
For free-falling objects, this force is always considered negligible, meaning the
magnitude is unnoticeable.

3) Normal – is the force that acts perpendicular to the surface of the object in contact with.
Its symbol is FN.
 4) Tension – is the force applied to string, rope, chain or cable. Its symbol is T.

Non-Contact Forces – forces where objects do not touch or contact with each other. These
forces act over a zone or area called field.
Examples of non-contact forces:
1) Gravitational (Fg) – is the force of attraction between two objects. In the case of the
Earth, this gravitational force causes objects to fall down to the ground. It makes satellites
and smaller objects stay in orbit near the more massive planets. Mass and distance of the
two objects affect the gravitational force that holds them.

The bigger the masses of the objects are, the bigger is the gravitational force between
them. The closer the objects are, the greater is the gravitational force between them. The
figure below illustrates gravitational force between the Earth and the Moon. Earth has
bigger gravitational force over the Moon.

The weight of an object, denoted by W, is an example of the gravitational force of the Earth
towards the object. In figure 13, the weight of a book (WBOOK) is illustrated.
 However, the weight of an object depends on the mass of the celestial body where the object
is attracted to. Meaning, we seem to be lighter when we are on the moon than on the Earth.
2) Magnetic – are forces exerted on a field of attraction or repulsion as in the case of
magnets and other magnetic materials. Magnets and magnetic materials have two poles –
the north and south poles. Attraction may occur when two poles are not the same, a
positive and a negative while repulsion takes place with the same poles, positive-positive
and negative-negative.

Balanced Forces
To describe a force, you must know two things. You must know the magnitude and the
direction of the force. Suppose two teams are playing tug-of-war as shown in figure 15. Each
team is pulling with equal magnitude of force, FA and FB, on the rope but in opposite directions.
Neither team can make the other team move. Forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in
direction are called balanced forces. Balanced forces do not cause a change in motion. When
balanced forces act on an object at rest, the object will not move.
Unbalanced Forces
 When you push a table and then it moves, unbalanced forces are present. Forces that cause a
change in the motion of an object are unbalanced forces. Unbalanced forces are not equal and in
opposite direction. Suppose that one of the teams in tug-of-war, as shown in figure 16, exerts
greater magnitude of force, FB, on the ground than the other team, the forces applied on the
ground would no longer be equal. One team would be able to pull the other team in the direction
of the larger force.

Net or Resultant Force

In an object, there may be several forces acting on it. Net force or resultant force is the sum
of all forces acting on an object. Two or more forces in the same line of action exerted on an
object are balanced if their effects cancel each other.
When an object is at rest, a zero net force would make the object remains at rest. Moreover,
when the object is moving, a zero net force would make the object maintain its velocity at a
given time interval.
On the other hand, when the net force is not zero, the object’s velocity will change. A net
force exerted to an object at rest may cause the object to move. In a moving object, a net force
will increase its velocity when the force is in the same direction of its motion. If the net force is
in the opposite direction of the object’s motion, the force will reduce the object’s velocity. When
the net force acts sideways on a moving object, the direction of the object’s velocity changes.
 When we combine or add forces to determine the net or resultant force, we will limit to those
forces which act along the same line of action. The algebraic signs + and – are used to indicate
the direction of forces. Unlike signs are used for forces acting in opposite directions, see figure
22 below.

The force of gravity (Fg) and the normal force (FN) are assigned opposite signs. FN is given a
positive (+) sign while Fg is given a negative (-) sign. If both Fg and FN are given a magnitude
value of 3 N, then the net force along this line (vertical) is represented by ∑F.
To solve for the net force, you get the sum of all the forces exerted in the object. The symbol
sigma, ∑, means you add all the existing forces in the same line of action. You cannot add a
vertical force to a horizontal force. In Figure 20, we can add the two forces, normal and

gravitational force since they are in the same vertical line of action.
 If the net force equates to zero, they are considered balanced. If the net force is not equal to
zero, the forces are not balanced. This unbalanced force would cause a change in a body’s state
of motion. Refer to the figure 23.