Effects of forces between bodies: What can forces do?

 Forces can affect bodies in several different ways:

o They can change their speed
o They can change their direction
o They can change their shape
o They can stop a moving body

Diagram showing the effects of forces on different objects

 Forces can take many different forms:

Diagram showing several different types of forces acting on objects

 Forces you should be aware of include:

o Weight – the name given to the force of gravity on a mass.
o Electrostatic force – the force between two charges
o Thrust – a force pushing an object forward (such as the force from a car engine)
o Air resistance (or drag) – the friction of the air on a moving object.
o Upthrust – the force of a fluid (such as water) pushing an object upwards (making it float)
o Compression – forces that are squashing an object
o Tension – forces that are stretching an object.
o Reaction force – a force due to contact between two objects.

Exam Tip

 The force of gravity should be referred to as weight or gravitational attraction.

o Avoid calling it simply gravity, as this term can mean several different things and will probably be
marked wrong.

 Avoid using the terms wind resistance (there’s no such thing) or air pressure (something entirely different)
when you should be referring to air resistance (or drag).
 Vector & Scalar Quantities

 Quantities can be one of two types: a scalar or a vector.

 Scalars are quantities that have only a magnitude (a number describing how big they are).
 Vectors have both magnitude and direction.

The cars in the above diagram have the same speed (a scalar quantity) but different velocities (a vector quantity)

Examples of Vector and Scalar

 Force is a vector quantity – it has both magnitude and direction.

The force is represented by the arrow. Its length gives the magnitude (size) of the force and the arrow also shows
its direction.

Some other common scalars and vectors are given below:

 Note: Some vector quantities (such as displacement and velocity) are very similar to some corresponding
scalar quantities (distance and speed).
 Calculating Resultant Force

When several forces act on a body, the resultant (overall) force on the body can be found by adding together forces
which act in the same direction, and subtracting forces which act in opposite directions:

Diagram showing the resultant forces on three different objects

Friction

 Friction is a force that opposes the motion of an object – it always acts in the opposite direction to the
direction in which the object is moving.

Friction opposes the motion of an object

Exam Tip

The resultant force is sometimes also known as the net force or the unbalanced force.
 Unbalanced Forces

 When an unbalanced (resultant) force acts on an object, the object will accelerate.
 Force, mass and acceleration are related by the following equation:

 You can rearrange this equation with the help of the formula triangle:

Use the formula triangle to help you rearrange the equation

 The greater the force, the greater the acceleration (for a given mass).
 For a given force, the smaller the mass the greater the acceleration.

 If you are trying to find the acceleration, check that you know both the unbalanced (resultant) force and
the mass of the object.
 If you don’t, you might need to calculate the acceleration using a different equation.
 Weight, Mass & Gravity

 Mass (measured in kilograms, kg) is related to the amount of matter in an object.

 Weight (measured in newtons, N) is the force of gravity on a mass.
 The size of this force depends on the gravitational field strength (often called gravity, g, for short).

You can rearrange this equation with the help of the formula triangle:

Use the formula triangle to help you rearrange the equation

 The value of g (the gravitational field strength) varies from planet to planet.
 On Earth:

g ≈ 10 N/kg

Exam Tip

 Mass is usually measured in kilograms in Physics.

 If it is given in grams, you might need to convert to kilograms by dividing the mass by 1000.
 It is easy to confuse mass and weight, so take care to use each term appropriately.
 Stopping Distance Essentials
Specification Point 1.19
 Know that the stopping distance of a vehicle is made up of the sum of the thinking distance and the braking
distance

 The stopping distance of a car is the distance it travels in the time it takes to stop in response to some
emergency.
 The stopping distance consists of two parts:
o The thinking distance – the distance travelled in the time it takes the driver to react.
o The braking distance – the distance travelled by the car whilst it’s braking.

Stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance

A velocity time graph for a stopping car

Factors Affecting Stopping Distances

Specification Point 1.20
 Describe the factors affecting vehicle stopping distance, including speed, mass, road condition and reaction
time

 The main factor affecting the stopping distance of a car is its speed.
 There are a number of other things, however, that can affect the stopping distance, by either increasing the
thinking distance or the braking distance.
Exam Tip

 Be careful about the language you use:

o If a question asks you to list a factor that increases the thinking distance, be specific in your
answer: e.g. “Consuming alcohol” rather than “Whether or not you’re drunk” – the first makes
it clear that drinking alcohol increases the distance, whilst the latter is slightly vague.
o Increasing reaction time is not the same thing as improving reaction time. If the reaction time
increases then you take longer to react.

 If asked to list factors affecting stopping distances, try and stick to those given in the table, and only
choose one from each cell (don’t give both alcohol and drugs as separate factors).
 Although there are other factors that affect stopping distances, they tend to be less clear cut: Do
reactions times get worse with age or do they improve with experience?
 Forces Acting on Falling Objects
Specification Point 1.21
 Describe the forces acting on falling objects (and explain why falling objects reach a terminal velocity)

 When a parachutist jumps out of an aeroplane, two main forces act:

o Weight (the force of gravity)
o Air resistance

Diagram showing how the changing forces on a skydiver

 Initially the air resistance is very small. There is a downwards unbalanced force and the skydiver
accelerates.
 As the skydiver speeds up, the air resistance increases.
 Eventually the air resistance balances the weight and so the skydiver travels at a constant speed – terminal
velocity.
 When the parachute is opened the increase air resistance on the parachute creates an upwards unbalanced
force, making the parachuting the slow down.

Graph showing how the velocity of a skydiver changes during the descent
Exam Tip

 The force of gravity should be referred to as weight or gravitational attraction.

o Avoid calling it simply gravity, as this term can mean several different things and will probably be
marked wrong.

 Avoid using the terms wind resistance (there’s no such thing) or air pressure (something entirely different)
when you should be referring to air resistance (or drag).

Practical: Hooke’s Law

Springs, Wires, Bands

Specification Point 1.22
 Practical: Investigate how extension varies with applied force for helical springs, metal wires and rubber
bands

 You could be asked to describe, comment on or analyze an experiment involving the stretching of a spring,
a metal wire or a rubber band
 Usually this will involve hanging masses from the bottom of the above in order to stretch it and then
measuring its new length against a ruler.
 The accuracy of such an experiment can be improved with the use of a pointer (a fiducial marker), as can
taking the measurements at eye level

Adding a pointer to the bottom of the masses can improve the accuracy of measurements

Top Tips for describing experiments:

 State what your independent variable is (the mass, in this case).

If appropriate, you should also suggest some realistic values for your independent variable.
 State what your dependent variable is (the length, in this example), and describe how you will measure it
(what equipment will you use? How can you make it as accurate as possible?)
 List any variables that you need to control and explain briefly how you will do so.
 Finally, state that you will repeat the experiment several times and take an average.
Springs

An experiment to measure the extension of a spring

 Set up the apparatus as shown in the diagram.

 A single mass (0.1 kg, 100g) is attached to the spring, with a pointer attached to the bottom, and the
position of the spring is measured against the ruler.
 The mass (in kg) and position (in cm) are recorded in a table.
 A further mass is added and the new position measured.
 The above process continues until a total of 7 masses have been added.
 The masses are then removed and the entire process repeated again, until it has been carried out a total of
three times, and averages can then be taken.
 Once measurements have been taken:
o The force on the spring can be found by multiplying the mass of the spring (in kg) by 10 N/kg (the
gravitational field strength).
o The extension of the spring can be found by subtracting the original position of the spring from
each of the subsequent positions.

Wires

An experiment to determine the extension of a metal wire

 A wire stretches by much less than a spring. In order to measure its extension a long length of wire is
usually needed.
 The apparatus should be set up as shown in the diagram.
 A single mass (0.1 kg) should be attached to the end of the wire and then the initial length of the wire
measured using a small pointer attached midway along the wire.
 Masses are then added, one at a time, to the end of the wire and the new length measured and recorded.
 This is continued until the wire breaks.
 The experiment can then be repeated and averages taken.
Rubber bands

 This experiment is essentially the same as the spring experiment, the sole difference being that once all of
the masses have been added, they should then be removed one at a time, and the positions recorded as this
is done.

(Rubber bands remain slightly extended after stretching, and so the readings taken whilst unloading the band will be
slightly longer than those taken whilst loading it).

Exam Tip

 Experiments such as the above will usually require you to plot a graph of force against extension.
 The force can be calculated by multiplying the mass (in kg) by 10 N/kg (the gravitational field strength).
 The extension measures how much the object has stretched by and can be found by subtracting the original
length from each of the subsequent lengths.
 A common mistake is to calculate the increase in length by each time instead of the total extension – if each of
your extensions is roughly the same then you might have made this mistake.

Hooke’s Law: Essentials

 Hooke’s law states that:

o The extension of a spring is proportional to the applied force.
 Many other materials (such as metal wires) also obey Hooke’s law.
 Hooke’s law is associated with the initial linear (straight) part of a force-extension graph.

The initial linear part of a force-extension graph is consistent with Hooke’s law
 The Elastic Limit

 Objects that obey Hooke’s law will return to their original length after being stretched.
 If an object continues to be stretched it can be taken past its elastic 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 exceeded its elastic limit

Exam Tip

 A relationship is said to be proportional if the graph is a straight line going through the origin.
 If a graph is a straight line but does not go through the origin the relationship is said to be linear.
Momentum
 Momentum is defined by the equation:

(Where p stands for momentum)

Momentum is defined as the product of mass and velocity

 The units of momentum are kg m/s (the units of mass multiplied by the units of velocity).
 Momentum is a vector quantity – it has direction as well as magnitude.
 This means that momentum can be negative as well as positive:
If an object travelling to the right has positive momentum, an object travelling in the opposite direction (to
the left) will have negative momentum

Safety

 Momentum is a way of measuring how difficult it is to stop a moving object:

o The greater the momentum of an object, the harder it is to stop it.
 Stopping an object suddenly requires a large force (see Specification point 1.28P, below)
 In order to keep people safe, the forces acting on people need to be kept to a minimum.
 This can be achieved by bringing them to a rest slowly.
 Safety devices such as seat belts and car airbags achieve this by cushioning an impact, causing a person’s
momentum to change more slowly.
 Conservation of Momentum
Specification Point 1.27P
 Use the conservation of momentum to calculate the mass, velocity or momentum of objects

 In the absence o f external forces (such as friction), the total momentum of a system remains the same.
 This means that in a collision, the sum of the momentums before the collision will be the same as the sum of
momentums after the collision.

Diagram showing the total momentum of a system before and after a collision

 In the above diagram the total momentum before and the total momentum after must be equal:

 Notes that because the red ball is travelling to the left after the collision, its momentum will be negative –
hence the minus sign in the above equation.
 Force & Momentum
Specification Point 1.28P
 Use the relationship between force, change in momentum and time taken:
Force = change in momentum / time taken
F = (mv – mu) / t

 When an unbalanced force acts on an object, the object will accelerate. This will cause its momentum to
change.
 The change in momentum is related to the force by the equation below:

 Note that if the time taken for an object to change its momentum is small, a big force must have acted on it.
 This can help us to understand safety (Specification point 1.26P, above) in more detail:
o In any collision or impact, the force acting on a person (or object) can be reduced by increasing
the amount of time it takes for its momentum to change.

Newton’s third law

Specification Point 1.29P
 Demonstrate an understanding of Newton’s third law

 Newton’s third law of motion states that: When one object exerts a force on another object, that second
object will exert an equal force on the first object in the opposite direction.

When object A exerts a force on object B, object B will exert an equal force on object A in the opposite direction

 These equal and opposite forces help us to understand why momentum is conserved:
o Each object will gain an equal amount of momentum (because the forces are equal) but in opposite
directions. These two changes in momentum are equal and opposite – they cancel out.
Moments: The basics
Specification Point 1.30P
 Know and use the relationship between the moment of a force and its perpendicular distance from the
pivot:
Moment = Force perpendicular distance from the pivot

 A moment is the turning effect of a force.

 The moment of a force is given by the equation:

Moments have the units newton centimetres (N cm) or newton metres (N m), depending on whether the distance is
measured in metres or centimetres.

Diagram showing the moment of a force exerted by a spanner on a nut

 Centre of Gravity
Specification Point 1.31P
 Know that the weight of a body acts through its centre of gravity

 The centre of gravity of an object (sometimes called the centre of mass) is the point through which the
weight of that object acts.
 For a symmetrical object of uniform density (such as a symmetrical cardboard shape) the centre of gravity
is located at the point of symmetry:

The centre of mass of a regular shape can be found by symmetry

 When an object is suspended from a point, the object will always settle so that it’s centre of gravity
comes to rest below the pivoting point.
 This can be used to find the centre of gravity of an irregular shape:

Diagram showing an experiment to find the center of gravity of an irregular shape.

o The irregular shape is suspended from a pivot and allowed to settle.

o A plumb line (lead weight) is then held next to the pivot and used to draw a vertical from the pivot
(the centre of gravity must be somewhere on this line).
o The process is then repeated, suspending the shape from two different points.
o The center of gravity is located at the point where all three lines cross.
 The Principle of Moments
Specification Point 1.32P
 Use the principle of moments for a simple system of parallel forces acting in one plane

 The principle of moments states that:

o For a system to be balanced, the sum of clockwise moments must be equal to the sum of
anticlockwise moments.

Diagram showing the moments acting on a balanced beam

 In the above diagram:

o Force F2 is supplying a clockwise moment;
o Forces F1 and F3 are supplying anticlockwise moments.
 Hence:

F2 x d2 = F1 x d1 + F3 x d3
 Supporting a Beam
Specification Point 1.33P
 Understand how the upward forces on a light beam, supported at its ends, vary with the position of a heavy
object placed on the beam

 A light beam is one that can be treated as though it has no mass.

 The supports, therefore, must supply upwards forces that balance the weight of any object placed on the
beam.

Diagram showing the forces acting on the ends of a light beam

 As the mass in the above diagram is moved from the left hand side to the right hand side of the beam, force
F1 will decrease and force F2 will increase.
 Consider what would happen to the beam if the right hand support was removed:
o The weight of the object would supply a moment about the left hand support, causing the beam to
pivot in a clockwise direction.
o Force F2 must therefore supply an anticlockwise moment about the left hand support, which balances
the moment supplied by the object.

Exam Tip

 When calculating the moment of a force, remember to use the perpendicular distance from the pivot –
i.e. the distance that crosses the line of force at right angles. When