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02 Force and Motion

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Asheana Mohamed
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27 views3 pages

02 Force and Motion

Uploaded by

Asheana Mohamed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FORCE AND MOTION

Objectives:

 Definition of force and acceleration


 The SI unit of force
 Formula for force
 Types of forces
 What is friction?
 Advantages and disadvantages of friction

What is Force?
A force is a push or a pull acting upon an object as a result of its interaction with another object.

The SI unit of force is the newton, symbol N.


The quantity of a force is expressed by the product of mass (m) and acceleration (a). The
equation or the formula for force can be mathematically expressed in the form: F = ma, where:
F = Force, m = mass, a = acceleration.

What is Acceleration?
Acceleration is the measurement of change in an object's velocity. When you press down on the
gas pedal in a car, the car surges forward going faster and faster. This change in velocity
is acceleration.

(Velocity is a measure of the speed and direction of motion.)

Types of Forces
There are two types of forces:

 Contact forces
 Non – contact forces
Contact Force – forces that act on a body either directly or through a medium are called contact
forces. These forces are involved only when two objects physically interact or touch each other.
Some examples are muscular, mechanical and frictional forces.

Types of contact forces

1. Normal force – this is when nothing is happening like a book lying on a table because gravity
is pulling it down.
2. Spring forces – is created by a compressed or stretched spring that push or pull.
3. Tension force – is a force that is applied to a cable or wire. It causes a force to pull equally in
each direction.
4. Frictional force – this acts between a pair of surfaces in contact and tends to oppose the
motion of one surface over the other.

Non – contact forces – forces that act through spaces without making direct contact with the
body are called non – contact forces.

Types of non – contact forces

1. Gravitational force – is responsible for bringing the items we toss into the air back to earth.
2. Electrostatic force – is very similar to the gravitational force, the difference is that
gravitational force acts between masses and an electrostatic force acts between two charged
bodies.
3. Magnetic force – is the force exerted by a magnet.

Examples of non – contact forces

1. An apple falling from a tree (gravitational force)


2. Iron pins attracted in the presence of a magnet without any physical contact (magnetic force)
3. The charging of the hair and the attraction of paper bits towards it (electrostatic force)
Friction

Friction is a force between two surfaces that are sliding, or trying to slide, across each other.
Friction always works in the direction opposite to the direction in which the object is moving or
trying to move. Friction always slows down a moving object. An example of friction is when you
try push a book along the floor.

The amount of friction depends on the materials from which the two surfaces are made. The
rougher the surface, the more friction is produced.

Types of friction

There are two types of friction:

1. Static friction – operates between two objects that are not moving.
2. Kinetic friction – acts between forces in motion.

Advantages of friction

 Walking – friction holds your shoe to the ground, allowing you to walk.
 Writing – without friction, it would not be possible to hold a pencil in your hand.
 Driving a car – with no friction, the tires would just spin. The car moves because of friction
of the tires against the ground.

Disadvantages of friction

 Friction produces unnecessary heat leading to wastage of energy.


 The force of friction acts in the opposite direction of motion, so friction slows down the
motion of moving objects.
 A lot of money goes into preventing friction and the wear and tear caused by it by using
techniques like greasing and oiling.

Ways of reducing friction

 Applying lubricants such as oil and grease between the surfaces.


 By polishing the surfaces, as polishing makes the surface smoother.

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