SCIENCE 8

Q1 Module1
FORCE, MOTION, AND ENERGY

Lesson Forces And Motion

What I Need To Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you to deepen your knowledge about
the types of forces acting on an object. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different learnings
situations. The examples given are relatable with your experience.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Investigate the relationship between the amount of force applied and the mass of the object to the amount of change in
the object’s motion. (S8FE-Ia-15).
2. Infer that when a body exerts a force on another, an equal amount of force is exerted back on it. ( S8FE-Ia-16)

What’s In
You have studied in your previous lessons that force is defined as a push or a pull acting on an object
by another object. It can be described as a vector quantity since it has both a magnitude and direction. There
are two (2) types of forces: contact force and non-contact force.
An object may be acted upon by several forces it could be balanced or unbalanced force.
What’s New

Arrange the scrambled letters below, to form the correct word/s.

1. GAMTICNE ROFEC -__________________ 4. CIRFONTI -_______________

2. IRA TANRECESIS -__________________ 5. RAGTYVI - _______________
3. PAPDEIL ECROF-____________________

What Is It
Contact forces are forces which needs physical contact and these include, applied force (a
force that is applied to an object by a person or another object), normal force (the support force
exerted upon an object that is in contact with another stable object), frictional force (the force exerted
by a surface as an object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it ), air resistance
(special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air), and tension force
(force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting
from opposite ends). Non-contact forces are forces which do not need physical contact and these
include electrical force (these forces come into existence when there are charges present in the
body), magnetic force (forces that exist between two objects due to their magnetic characteristics)
and gravitational force (force with which the earth, moon, or other massively large object attracts
another object towards itself).
Analyze each picture below and identify whether contact force or non-contact force.

1 2 3
. What’s More
1.________________ 2. _______________ 3. ________________

Forces are said to be balanced if the forces acting on the object are equal in magnitude (amount of force), in
opposite directions and they lie along the same line of action. Forces can be unbalanced if the forces acting on the
object do not cancel each other. Balanced forces keep the stationary objects at rest or keeps the object moving if it is in
motion. Unbalanced forces can make stationary objects move, move faster, stop, or change their direction of motion.

A
stationary
objects remained
at rest because
the forces
acting on them
are equal in
magnitude
(amount of force) and in opposite directions and they lie along the same line of action (refer to fig. below) the forces are
balanced.

Consider the given illustration: In figure 1, the forces acting on a rolling ball are
Fn- Normal Force the normal force, force of gravity, applied force
Line of Action
and friction. If we combine all these forces, what
is the net force?
Ff- friction force
Fa- Force Applied
When we combine or add forces to determine the
Fg- - Force of gravity
net or unbalanced force, we will limit our
discussion to those forces which act along the
same line of action. The algebraic signs + and –
are used to indicate the direction of forces.

Figure 1
Unlike signs are used for forces acting in opposite directions. In figure.1, the force of gravity (F g ) and the normal
force ( Fn ) are assigned opposite signs. Fn is given a positive sign while Fg is given a negative sign. If both F n and Fg
are given a magnitude value of 3 units, then the net force along the line (vertical) will be:
Fnet = Fn + Fg
= 3 units + (-3 units)
=0
If the sum of the forces is equal to zero, they are considered balanced. If the algebraic sum is not equal
to zero, the forces are not balanced. The non-zero sum is the net or unbalanced force. This
unbalanced or net force would cause a change in a body’s state of motion.

SAMPLE PROBLEMS:
1. A boy and a girl are pulling a heavy crate to the same direction with 10 units of force each. What is the net force
acting on the crate?

Fboy = 10 units Solution:

(Let Fboy be F1 and Fgirl be F2)
Fnet = Fboy + Fgirl
= 10 units + 10 units
Fgirl = 10 units = 20 units
2. What if the boy and the girl pull the heavy crate at the same time in opposite directions with 10 units and 5 units
respectively, what will be the net force on the object? Will the object move? To what direction will it move?
Solution:
Fnet = F1 + F2
10 units 5 units = 10 units + (-5 units)
= 5 units
*The object will move in the
What I Have Learned direction of 10 units.

Solve the following problems: Show your solutions.

1. A sack of rice is being pulled to the left by 2 persons, each person pulling with 6 N of force. Find the net force of the sack
of rice.

2. If a person pulls on a cart to the right with a force of 10 N and a second person pulls to the left with a force of 3 N, what is
the net force (+ direction) on the cart?