Resistive forces When a ball is rolled on the floor, it eventually comes to rest. The reason why the ball comes to rest is because of friction. Friction is a force that opposes the motion of an object. Frictional forces:, 1 slow down the motion of moving objects and 2 prevent movement between. two stationary objects in contact with each other. Heat is produced when work is done against friction, In machines, there are friction frictional forces cause therm: machines less efficient, Lub: al forces acting on moving parts. The al energy to be produced, This makes Ticating moving parts with oil or grease,inside the machine helps reduce friction, This reduces the amount of wear and tear inside the machine and makes it more efficient. Friction arises because surfaces are not completely smootlt, Even though they may appear that way, at the microscopic level they are actually jagged and rough, Frictional forces can be reduced by: using lubricants such as‘oil or grease, using rollers and ball beatings between surfaces in contact, polishing surfaces to ensure they are stooth as possible. Drag force is the force that opposes the motion of an object as it moves through a fluid. Air resistance is a special type of frictional force which acts on obicets as they travel through air, At low velocities, the air resistance is proportional to the velocity of the object (F = kv). At higher xyelocitis, the air qesistance is proportional to the square of the velocity of the obiect [F = Av") velocity Terminal velocity Consider a parachutist jumping from an aircraft, When the parachutist jumps from an aircrait, his initial velocity is zero, The initial acceleration 1s 9.S1 ms®, The initial force acting on the parachutist is his weight, Pa Oe aut which acts downwards. There is no drag force acting on him at the start because the initial velocity is zero. As he falls, his velocity increases and hus acceleration decreases. The drag force acting on him is proportional to his velocity and acts upwards. The drag force therefore increases as he falls The resultant force acting on him is F, = W — D, where W is the weight of the parachutist and D is the drag force acting on him. At some pointin 4.3. the fall, his weight becomes equal to drag forcegAt this point, the resultant force acting on him is zeroSHis acceleration is also zero, which means that he is falling at a constant velocity. He has now reached terminal velocity = > (Figure “ ° 2 oker 1.3) ve Chapter 5 Forces terminal velocity time drag force D 4 weiffit W Example Figure 5.1.3 Terminal velocity ‘An object has a mass of 2.2kg. When the object falls in air, the air resistance F is given by F = kv’, where v is the velocity of the object and k= 0.039Ns'm?, s Key points Calculate: chines cash Archimedes’ principe states that a the weight of the object when a body is totally or partially the terminal velocity of the object submerged ina fluid it experiences € the acceleration of the object when it is falling with a velocity of 10ms" an upthrust which is equal to the ee — - = weight of the fluid displaced. a W = mg = 2.2981 =21.6N 1 Friction opposes motion. b Atterminal velocity, the resultant force acting on the object is zero. When work is done against ae he friction, heat is produced. P= kt m An object reaches terminal ee Dea occa velocity when it falls through a v= = 23,5ms* fluid. oo ame mt Atterminal velocity, the weight ¢ Whenv = 10ms" air resistance F = (0.039)(10}' = 3.9N ofthe object is equal to the drag Resultant force acting on object = W-F = 216-39 force. The resultant force is zero FLA and the acceleration is zero. aan = Oy = 804ms? a erceneeaeenaneeny \5.2 Learning outcomes On completion of this section, you should be able to: use avvector triangle to represent forces in equilibrium Understand the concept of centre of gravity describe an ‘experiment to. find the centre of gravity of an irregular shaped lamina. NV e R | @ 1 R @) ) figure 5.21 a) Three jor ona 6) areca 92 o/\r (@) (6) Figure 5.2.2 (a) The free body diagram (8) The vector polygon Polygon of forces and centre of gravity Polygon of forces biect. Figure 5.2.1(al shows the Ose ses P, Q and R act on an ot ie buy dann A fe ody diagram shows al the frees tng on ‘The object is in equilibrium. The forces can be used to a vector triangle (Figure 5.2. 1{b)). The sides of the triangle represent the a magnitude ofthe forces. Since the object isin equilibrium, the tiane drawn will be a closed triangle. If the object was not in equilibrium, the vector triangle will not be closed. The vector triangle is drawn as follows: 1 One of the forces acting ori the object is selected and drawn first (eg. P 2 Moving in an anticlockwise direction, the next force is drawn. The force R is drawn by starting from the arrowhead of P. 3. The force Q is then drawni by starting at the arrowhead of R. The directions ofall the forces in the vector triangle are exactly the same as in the free body diagram. Suppose an object isin equilibrium when acted upon by four forces, P, Q, R and'S In this case a vector polygon can be drawn. Using the same principles sed for the vector triangle, the polygon can be drawn (Figure 5.2.2} Suppose two forces P and Q act on an equilibrium. The resultant force actin, object to be in equilibrium, direction opposite to Rmust object. The object is not in 1g on the object is R. In order for the a force of equal magnitude to R, acting ina t be exerted on the body (Figure 5.2.3). Pp _@ )W=mg M 32N Figure 5.2.4 Ww = mg = 0.51 X 9.81 = 5.0N Using Pythagoras’ theorem Te S+ar T = \35.24 = S9N 32 wand = 35 (Figure 5.2.4) Centre of gravity Finding the centre of gravity of an irregular- shaped lamina A lamuna is a thin sheet of stiff material, In order to locate the centre of revit of an urregular-shaped lamina, the following steps are taken: 1 Two small holes are made near the edge of the lamina. 2 A nail is placed through one of the holes and the lamina is made to hang treely from it. 3 A stnng with a mass attached to it is then attached to the nail. 4 A pencil is used to mark several points on the lamina where the string, hangs, 5 The mass and string is removed and a straight line is drawn through the points made in step 4, 6 A nail is placed through the second hole and the lamina is made to hang freely. 7 The string with a mass attached to it is then attached to the nail. 8 A pencil is used to mark several points on the lamina where the string hangs. 9 The mass and string is removed and a straight line is drawn through the points made in step 8. 10 The point of intersection of the two Jines drawn is the centre of gravity of the lamina (Figure 5.2.5). Key points A free body diagram shows all the forces acting on a body. = For an object in equilibrium when several forces act on it, a closed vector polygon can be drawn. The centre of gravity of a body is the point through which all the weight of a body seems to act. 8 a eneee ne neues OeEERESTATTESRETETEE Chapter 5 Forces The centre of gravity of a body is the point through which all the weight of a body appears to act. lamina mass attached toastring centre of gravity Figure 5.2.5 Finding the centre of gravity of anirregular shaped lamina