CHAPTER 8 FORCE AND MOTION

Learning Outcomes:

1. To learn about forces

2. To learn about the effects of a force

8.1 Force

1. Force is defined as a push or a pull upon an object. Force also exists in various
forms such as gravitational force, weight force, frictional force, elastic force
and buoyant force.
2. Almost every activity that we do in our daily life uses force. Activities such as
opening a door or a canned drink are examples of using force in our daily life.

Gravitational force
- A force that pulls
objects toward the
centre of Earth and
causes object to
have weight.

Frictional force Normal force

- A force that exists - A force that is
between two produced when an
surfaces that are object is in contact
rubbing each other with a surface.
Types of
forces

Elastic force Buoyant force

- A force in an - A force that resists
elastic object due to the weight of an
stretching or object that floats on
compression water or in the air.
 Characteristics of force
1. Force is a vector quantity that has magnitude, direction and point of
application.
a. Magnitude – strength of the force
b. Direction – path that a force moves toward
c. Point of application – location at which a force is applied to an object
2. Force diagram is used to represent the characteristics of force:
a. Magnitude of force is measured in Newton (N).
b. Direction is represented by an arrow.

5N

Measurement of force
1. S.I. unit for force is Newton (N). The magnitude of a force can be measured
with a spring balance or Newton balance based on the principle of spring
extension.
2. On Earth, the gravitational force that acts on a 100g mass is approximately 1
N. Hence, the gravitational force that acts on an object with a 1kg mass is
approximately 10 N.
3. In order to measure weight:
≈ An object is suspended freely at the hook of the spring balance.
≈ The reading on the scale shows the weight of the object.
4. In order to measure frictional force:
≈ An object is pulled horizontally on a surface until it moves.
≈ The reading on the scale shows the frictional force.

String Spring balance

Pull

Action force and reaction force

1. Forces always exist in action-reaction pairs.
2. According to Newton’s third law, for every action force, there is a reaction
force with equal magnitude but in opposite direction.
3. Examples that explain the concept of Newton’s third law:
a. A person can float on water because the magnitude of the weight of the
person (action force) is the same as the force that acts upwards known
as the buoyant force (reaction force).

b. A ball is in a stationary state on the table. The weight of the ball acts
on the table and the table reacts with the same magnitude of force but
in the opposite direction. This is known as normal force.
8.2 Effects of force

1. Although forces cannot be seen, the effect of these forces can be seen.
➢ Force can change the shape and size of an object.

➢ It can change the original state of motion of an object, whether moving a

stationary object or stopping a moving object.

Density and buoyant force

1. The buoyant force is a force that acts on the object when it is submerged
completely or partly in the fluid. Buoyant force can be calculated using the
formula below:

Buoyant force = Actual weight – apparent weight

2. Floatation of an object depends on the magnitude of weight and buoyant force.

a. An object will float on water if the buoyant force that acts on it is
enough to support its weight. The object is less dense than water.
b. An object will sink into the water if the buoyant force that acts on it is
not enough to support its weight. The object is denser than water.

Lever
1. The lever is a simple machine invented to help us to do our work easily. It
consists of a bar that is supported at a fixed point or at the pivot which is
 called as fulcrum (F). When an effort (D) is applied, the lever will rotate on
the fulcrum and move the load (B).

D
B

2. Effort and load are two types of forces that act on a lever. In a balanced lever,
the relationship between the E and L is as following:

Effort (N) x = Load (N) x

Distance of effort from fulcrum (m) Distance of load from fulcrum (m)

Levers

First class lever Second class lever Third class lever

(F is between B & D) (B is between F & D) (D is between B & F)

- The distance between - The D should be

D & F must be bigger
than the distance
between B & F.
- e.g. scissors, plier,
claw hammer
further away from F
than B.
- e.g. nutcracker,
wheelbarrow, bottle
opener
- The D should be
nearer to B than F.
- e.g. ice cube tong,
fishing rod, forceps
 The moment of force
1. Moment of force is the turning effect that is produced when a force is acting
on an object at a fixed point.

2. The magnitude of the moment of a force depends on:

a. Magnitude of force
b. Length of lever (perpendicular distance from the pivot to the line of
action of the force)
3. The moment of force can be calculated using the formula below:

Moment of force (Nm) =Force (N) x Perpendicular distance from the pivot to force (m)

4. The moment of force has two directions: clockwise or anticlockwise.

5. In the lever, the two forces that act on it are the effort and the load. These
forces produce opposing moments of forces. The load produces an
anticlockwise moment of force while the effort produces a clockwise moment
of force.

Force
Load distance Force distance

6. The formula for lever calculation:

Load (N) x distance of load from fulcrum (m)

= Force (N) x distance of force from fulcrum to force (m)

Pressure
1. Pressure is a normal force that acts perpendicularly on one unit of a surface
area.
2. The formula for pressure:

Pressure (N m-2) = normal force (N)/surface area (m2)

3. The S.I. unit for pressure is Newton per square metre (N m-2) or Pascal (Pa).
4. The smaller the surface area, the greater the magnitude of pressure produced.

Application of pressure in daily life

1. Reducing surface area to increase pressure
a. The blade of the knife is very thin to produce high pressure on the
object being cut.

b. The sole of a skating boot has a metal strip to enable the skater to glide
smoothly on the ice surface.

c. The tips of iron nails and screws have a pointy surface to pierce into
hard surfaces.

2. Increasing surface area to decrease pressure

a. A battle tank has a wide base so that it can move on soft soil and
prevent it from sinking.
 b. Elephants have feet with big soles that help them to move on soft
ground and mud.

c. Buildings have large base areas for stability.

Gas pressure

(A) Air pressure

1. Air pressure is the force exerted by gas particles on one unit of surface area in
an enclosed container.
2. According to the kinetic theory of gases:
≈ Gas particles are constantly moving freely and hitting
with one another and with the wall of the container.
≈ The effect of collision is produced by the pushing force
known as gas pressure.
3. A Bourdon gauge is used to measure air pressure.
4. The factors that affect air pressure are:
a. Volume of gas
b. When the volume in the container decreases, the air particles inside the
container collide more frequently with the wall of the container and cause the
pressure in the container to increase.
c. Temperature of gas
≈ When the temperature in the container increases, the air particles
move faster and hence collide more frequently with the wall of the
container and cause the pressure in the container to increase.
(B) Atmospheric pressure
1. Atmospheric pressure is the pressure applied by the atmosphere onto the
surface of the Earth and all the bodies on this Earth.
2. Atmospheric pressure at sea level at 25 ◦C is 1 atmosphere (1 atm).

1 atm = 105 Nm-2 or 105 Pa

3. A barometer is used to measure atmospheric pressure.
4. Examples of various devices using the principle of atmospheric pressure:
a. Drinking straw
≈ The air pressure is low inside the straw. The
atmospheric pressure at the bottom tip of the straw
pushes the liquid into the mouth.

b. Vacuum cleaner
≈ When the switch is turned on, the fan in
the vacuum cleaner will push air out the
vacuum cleaner and cause low air
pressure inside the vacuum cleaner.
Hence, the higher atmospheric pressure
outside pushes air into the vacuum
cleaner.

c. Siphon
≈ The atmospheric pressure pushes the water into the
tube and water flows continuously. When both the ends
of the tube are at the same level, water does not flow
out because the column of water remains the same
because of water pressure.
 Relationship between altitude and atmospheric pressure
1. Atmospheric pressure depends on altitude or height above sea level.
2. The higher the altitude, the lower the atmospheric pressure.
3. At higher altitude, the air molecules are less influenced by the gravitational
pressure. The air is thinner and temperature is lower too. Hence, the air
molecules are lighter and easily expand which then causes a lower atmospheric
pressure.

4. This situation would cause the boiling point of water at higher altitude to be
lower than 100 degrees Celsius.
 Pressure in liquids
1. An object in a liquid experiences pressure because of the weight of the liquid.
2. The deeper the point, the greater the weight of liquid above it.
3. The pressure in liquid increases with depth.
Examples:
The water jet is the weakest at X
because the pressure in the liquid is
the weakest. The water jet is the
X
strongest at Z because the pressure in
liquid is the strongest.
Y

The walls of the dam are built and designed wider at the base to hold water which has
greater pressure at its base.

The body of the submarine is made of strong material to withstand high water
pressure so that it would not crush. Besides that, the submarine has a cylindrical
shaped body to spread the pressure more evenly when in liquid.