FORCES AND ITS EFFECT

A force is defined as: A push or a pull that acts on an object due to the
interac on with another object.
 Force unit is Newton(N).
 Force is a vector quan ty.
Forces can affect bodies in a variety of ways:
 Changes in speed: forces can cause bodies to speed up or slow down.
 Changes in direc on: forces can cause bodies to change their direc on of
travel.
 Changes in shape: forces can cause bodies to stretch, compress, or deform.

Air resistance
 Air resistance is just like fric on due to air.
 Air resistance on an object depends on its
speed and surface area.
 Bigger surface area more air resistance.
 More the speed more the air resistance will
be.
 Streamlined shape reduces air resistance.

Gravita onal force/ weight - The force ac ng

on an object due to gravity.
W = mg
W= weight (in N)
m = mass (in kg)
g = gravita onal field strength
(in N/kg or m/s2)

Reac on force or Normal force - The force that

supports an object on a solid surface.
Tension - The force transmi ed through a rope,
string or wire when pulled by forces ac ng on
each end.

Upthrust - The upward force exerted by a fluid

on an object floa ng in it.

Fric on - The force between two surfaces that

are sliding, or trying to slide, past each other.

Magne c force - The force exerted by a magne c field on a magne c material.

Electrosta c force - The force that acts between two charged objects.

FORCE DIAGRAM
 You can't see forces, but you can see their effects.
 Force is a vector quan ty, so we add force arrows to a diagram to show which
forces are ac ng.
 The arrows show the direc on and the size of the force (the longer the arrow,
the bigger the force).
 The force arrows should touch the object in the diagram.

RESULTANT FORCES ON A STRAIGHT LINE

 A resultant force is a single force that describes all the forces ac ng on a
body.
 When many forces are applied to an object they can be combined (added or
subtracted) to produce one final force which describes the combined ac on
of all the forces
 This single resultant force determines:
o The direc on in which the object will move as a result of all of the forces.
o The magnitude of the final force experienced by the object.
 The resultant force is some mes called the net force.
Resultant forces can be calculated by adding or subtrac ng all the forces ac ng
on the object.
 If two or more forces are ac ng in the same direc on, we can add them
together to find the total.
 If they act in opposite direc ons, we need to subtract, as shown below.

BALANCED AND UNBALANCED FORCES

BALANCED FORCES
 If the forces ac ng on an object in opposite direc ons are equal in size, then
resultant force on that object will be zero – then we say the forces on that
object are balanced.
 The mo on of the object with zero resultant force depends on the ini al
state of the object.
o If an object is at rest, it will remain at rest (sta onary)
o If an object is moving with zero resultant force, it will con nue to move in
a straight line with constant speed.

 The weight of the person and the reac on force  The weight of the leaf and the
of the chair are balanced. air resistance are balanced.
 As she is sta onary, she will remain sta onary.  The leaf falls with a steady
speed.
NOTE:
If an object is moving with a constant speed in a straight line, then resultant
force on that object must be zero.
UNBALANCED FORCES
 If the forces on an object are not equal and opposite, then they are
unbalanced.
 If the forces are unbalanced, then the mo on of the object will change:
o If it is not moving it will start moving.
o If it is moving it will speed up (accelerate), slow down (decelerate), or
change direc on.

If the direc on of resultant

force and mo on of an
object are same, the object
will accelerate.

If the direc on of resultant

force and mo on of an
object are opposite, the
object will decelerate.

 When a resultant force causes an object to move, the object will accelerate
in the direc on of the resultant force.
 The direc on of the accelera on is the same as the direc on of the
resultant force.

NEWTON'S FIRST LAW OF MOTION

Newton's first law of mo on states: Objects will remain at rest or move with a
constant velocity(speed) unless acted on by a resultant force.
 This means if the resultant force ac ng on an object is zero:
o The object will remain sta onary if it was sta onary before
o The object will con nue to move at the same velocity if it was moving.
 When the resultant force is not zero
o The speed of the object can change.
o The direc on of the object can change.
NEWTON'S SECOND LAW
Newton's second law of mo on states:
 The resultant force F ac ng on an object of mass m is related to the
accelera on of the object by the following equa on:
F = ma
F = resultant force on the object in Newtons (N)
m = mass of the object in kilograms (kg)
a = accelera on of the object in metres per second squared (m/s2)

 This equa on can be rearranged with the help of a formula triangle:

 The accelera on of an object is propor onal to the resultant force (𝑎 ∝ F)

𝟏
ac ng on it and inversely propor onal to the object's mass (𝑎 ∝ ).
𝒎
 An object will accelerate in response to a resultant force.
 The bigger this resultant force, the larger the accelera on.
 For a given force, the greater the object's mass, the smaller the accelera on
experienced.
 The resultant force and the accelera on act in the same direc on.

CIRCULAR MOTION
 Velocity is a vector quan ty, and the velocity of an object is its speed in a
given direc on.
 When an object travels along a circular path, its velocity is always changing.
 The speed of the object moving in a circle might be constant - that is, it is
travelling the same distance every second.
 However, the direc on of travel is always changing as the object moves along
the circular path.
 This means that an object moving in circular mo on travels at a constant
speed but has a changing velocity.
Note
1. If an object is moving in a circle, or along
the arc of a circle, there must be a force
ac ng on it to con nually change its
direc on.
2. The resultant force needed for an object
to do circular mo on will act towards
the centre of that circular mo on. It acts
perpendicularly (at right angles) to the
direc on of mo on of the object at any
given instant.
3. In uniform circular mo on direc on of
velocity is along the tangent drawn to
the posi on of object on the
circumference of the circle.
4. In circular mo on, a force always acts towards the centre. This ensures that
the object accelerates towards the centre but does not move towards the
centre.
5. An object moving in a circle at constant speed is indeed accelera ng. It is
accelera ng because the direc on of the velocity is changing.

Figure shows the direc ons of the velocity and resultant force when the object
is at posi ons (1), (2), (3) and (4).

As long as this resultant force con nues to act

at 90 degrees to the mo on, the object will
keep changing its direc on (whilst remaining at
a constant speed) and travel in a circle.
This is what happens when a planet orbits a
star (or satellite orbits a planet)

Resultant force and circular mo on

The magnitude of the force required to keep an object moving in a circular path
depends on three quan es — mass of the object, speed of the object and the
radius of the circular path.
 The mass of the object
o A greater mass requires a greater force when the speed and radius are
constant.
 The speed of the object
o A faster-moving object requires a greater force when the mass and radius
are constant (kept same).
 The radius of the circle
o A smaller radius requires a greater force to keep the speed and radius
constant.
This resultant force towards the centre of the circular mo on can also be
called as the centripetal force
F is the resultant force
m is the mass of the object moving in circular mo on
r is the radius of the circular mo on.
V is the velocity(speed) of the object doing circular mo on.

MASS AND WEIGHT

Mass is defined as amount of ma er (or) It is the measure of iner a of an
object.
Note: Iner a is a property of ma er that causes it to resist changes in velocity
(speed and/or direc on)
Weight is the amount of gravity ac ng on an object’s mass.
weight = mass × gravita onal field strength
W = mg
Difference between mass and weight
 MOTION OF FALLING OBJECTS
FREE FALL
 Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance.
 If an object is in free fall, then the object’s weight (gravity force) is the only
force ac ng on it.
 The weight of an object is the force that acts downwards making the object
to accelerate.
 All free-falling objects (on Earth) will fall with the same accelera on,
regardless of their mass at a rate of 9.8 m/s2
 This is called the accelera on of freefall (this is also some mes called
accelera on due to gravity)
accelera on of freefall = g = 9.81 m/s2
 So, as long as air resistance remains insignificant, the speed of a falling object
will increase at a steady rate, ge ng larger the longer it falls for.
 This means that for every second an object falls, its velocity(speed) will
increase by 9.8 m/s.

Falling Objects with Air Resistance

 Objects falling through fluids (fluids are liquids or gases) in a uniform
gravita onal field, experience two forces:
o Weight (due to gravity)
o Fric on (such as air resistance)

 A skydiver jumping from a plane will experience:

o A downward ac ng force of weight (mass × accelera on of freefall)
o An upward ac ng force of air resistance (fric onal forces always oppose
the direc on of mo on)
The force of air resistance increases with speed. This is illustrated in the image
below:

 Ini ally, the only force ac ng on the skydiver is weight (gravity). Due to which
forces are unbalanced and skydiver will accelerate.
 As the skydiver speeds up, air resistance increases, eventually growing large
enough to balance the downwards weight force.
 Once air resistance equals weight, the forces are balanced.
 This means there is no longer any resultant force.
 Therefore, the skydiver's accelera on is zero - they now travel at a constant
speed.
 This speed is called their terminal velocity.
 When the skydiver opens the parachute, the air resistance increases
dras cally becoming too large than weight making forces unbalanced.
 This is due to the increased surface area of the parachute opening.
 As the resultant force is ac ng upwards and skydiver moving downwards. The
skydiver decelerates.
 Eventually, the forces balance out again, and a new slower terminal velocity
is reached.
 When he lands his velocity becomes zero.
Graph showing how the velocity of a skydiver changes during the descent.
 INVESTIGATING FORCE & EXTENSION
INVESTIGATING SPRINGS
 When forces are applied to materials, the size and shape of the material can
change.
 The method below describes a typical procedure for carrying out an
inves ga on into the proper es of a material.

An experiment to measure the extension of a spring.

 Set up the apparatus as shown in the diagram.
 Record the ini al length of the spring without any load.
 A single mass (0.1 kg, 100g) is a ached to the spring, with a pointer a ached
to the bo om, and the posi on of the spring is measured against the ruler.
 The mass (in kg) and posi on (in cm) are recorded in a table.
 A further mass is added, and the new posi on measured.
 The above process con nues un l a total of 5 or 6 masses have been added.
 The masses are then removed, and the en re process repeated again, un l it
has been carried out a total of three mes, and averages can then be taken.
 Once measurements have been taken:
 The force on the spring can be found by mul plying the mass on the spring
(in kg) by 9.81 N/kg (the gravita onal field strength)
 We can calculate the extension of the spring by taking the difference
between the extended length and the original length.
 Extension(x) = measured length – original length

 Finally, a graph of extension (on the y-axis) against force (on the x-axis) should
be plo ed.

HOOK’S LAW: The extension of a spring is directly propor onal to the force
applied, within the limit of propor onality (Elas c limit).
 limit of propor onality is the point at which the load-extension graph
becomes non-linear.
stretching force(F) ∝ Extension(x)
F=kx
k- spring constant
𝐅
so, k =
𝐗
 The spring constant, k, is defined as force per unit extension.
o The units are N/m.
o The value of k, the spring constant, varies between different springs.
o The higher the value of k, the s ffer the spring.
 Many other materials (such as metal wires) also obey Hooke’s law.
 Hooke’s law is associated with the ini al linear (straight) part of a force-
extension graph.
 Objects that obey Hooke’s law will return to their original length a er being
stretched.
 If an object con nues to be stretched it can be taken past the limit of
propor onality (some mes called the elas c limit).
 At this point, the object will no longer obey Hooke’s law and will not return to
its original length.

The spring on the right has been stretched beyond the limit of propor onality.
Combina on of springs
Springs can be combined in different ways.
o In series (end-to-end)
o In parallel (side-by-side)

 When two iden cal springs are

connected in series, they produce
twice the extension because the
springs are under same force and
two extensions add up.
 When two iden cal springs are
connected in parallel, they
produce half the extension
because each spring is affected by
half the force
CALCULATING THE RESULTANT VECTORS
A B

 Figure A shows someone pushing a car. Fric on opposes their pushing force.
 Because the forces are ac ng in a straight line, it is simple to calculate the
resultant force, provided we consider the direc ons of the forces:
resultant force = 500 N ‒ 350 N
= 150 N to the right

 Figure B shows two forces ac ng in right angles to each other.

 In this case, to find resultant force we use graphical method or Pythagoras
theorem.

RULES FOR VECTOR ADDITION USING GRAPHICAL METHOD

Head-to-Tail Method or Triangle law

1. Decide on an appropriate scale. Record it on the diagram.

2. Pick a star ng point.
3. Draw first vector with appropriate length and in the indicated direc on.
4. Draw the second vector with appropriate length and direc on, beginning at
the arrowhead of the first vector.
5. Draw the resultant from the tail of the first to the head of the second.
6. Measure the length of the resultant; use the scale to convert to the
magnitude of the resultant.
7. Use a protractor to measure the vector’s direc on.
Prac ce ques on
1. Find the resultant force ac ng on the rocket shown in Figure B. What effect
will the resultant force have on the rocket?

Step 1:
o Look at the Figure. The two forces are 4.0 N horizontally and 3.0 N
ver cally.
o You now need to draw a scale diagram (a vector triangle) to represent
these forces.
o Use a scale of 1.0 cm to represent 1.0 N.
Step 2:
o Draw a horizontal arrow, 4.0 cm long, to represent the 4.0 N force.
o Mark it with an arrow to show its direc on.
Step 3:
o Using the end of this arrow as the start of the next arrow, draw a ver cal
arrow, 3.0 cm long, to represent the 3.0 N force.
Step 4:
o Complete the triangle by drawing an arrow
from the start(tail) of the first arrow to the
end(head) of the second arrow.
o This arrow represents the resultant force.
Step 5:
o Measure this arrow and use the scale to find
the size of the force it represents.
o Length of line = 5.0 cm, resultant force = 5.0 N.
Step 6:
o Use a protractor to measure the angle of the force.
o Angle of force = 37° below horizontal.
Tail-to-Tail Method (or) Parallelogram law
 In this method we draw the two vectors with their
tails on the origin as shown in the figure.
 Then we draw a line parallel to the first vector from
the head of the second vector and vice versa.
 Where the parallel lines intersect is the head of the
resultant vector that will also start at the origin.
 We will only deal with perpendicular vectors, but
this procedure works for any vectors.

Using Pythagoras' Theorem to find the resultant vector.

 Pythagoras's Theorem makes calcula ng vectors at right angles much simpler.

 Use trigonometry to find the angle.

 The mnemonic 'soh-cah-toa' is used to remember how to apply sines and
cosines to resolve the sides of a triangle.
FRICTION IN FLUIDS
 Gases and liquids are known as fluids.
 Fluids are different to solids because the par cles in fluids can move around.
 Fric on acts on objects moving through gases and liquids as the par cles
collide with the object.
 This type of fric on is called drag.
 Air resistance and water resistance are the type of fric ons that slows the
mo on of an object.
 Par cles bump into the object as it moves through the air and water.

NOTE:
Always remember drag force will always act opposite to the objects mo on.

Example ques on

Ans: D