A stationary object remains stationary if the sum of the forces

acting upon it - resultant force - is zero. A moving object with a

zero resultant force keeps moving at thet he same speed and in the
same direction.

Acceleration depends on the force applied to an object and the

object's mass. Gravity is a force that attracts objects with mass
towards each other. The weight of an object is the force acting
on it due to gravity.

esultant force

You should be able to use the idea of the resultant force on an object
to determine its movement.

An object may have several different forces acting on it, which can
have different strengths and directions. They can be added together to
give theresultant
theresultant force.
force. This is a single force that has the same effect
on the object as all the individual forces acting together.
together.

!hen the resultant force is zero

When all the forces are balanced, the resultant force is zero. In this
case:
• A stationary object remains stationary
• A moving object ee!s on moving at the same s!eed in the
same direction
 "or e#am!le, in the diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant force on
the bar is zero, so the bar does not move. Its weight acting downwards
is balanced by the u!ward force !rovided by the weightlifter.

The longer the arrow, the bigger the force. In this diagram, the arrows
are the same length, so we now they are the same size.

!hen the resultant force is not zero

When all the forces are not balanced, the resultant force is not zero. In
this case:
• A stationary object begins to move in the direction of the
resultant force
• A moving object s!eeds u!, slows down or changes direction
de!ending on the direction of the resultant force
In this diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant force on the bar is not
zero. The u!wards force is bigger than the downwards force. The
resultant force acts in the u!wards direction, so the bar moves
u!wards.

In this ne#t diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant force on the bar
is also not zero. This time, the u!wards force is smaller than the
downwards force. The resultant force acts in the downwards direction,
so the bar moves downwards.

This can be shown with numbers in a calculation. If the u!wards force

was $ % and the downward force & % then the resultant force would be
 ' % (the difference between the two forces). It would act in a
downwards direction.

esultant forces and motion

You should now that objects accelerate when the resultant force is
not zero, and understand the factors that affect the size of
the acceleration.

"ize of the force

An object will accelerate in the direction of the resultant force. The
bigger the force, the greater the acceleration.

*oubling the size of the (resultant) force doubles the acceleration.

The mass
An object will accelerate in the direction of the resultant force. A force
on a large mass will accelerate it less than the same force on a smaller
mass.
*oubling the mass halves the acceleration.

+ere is an euation relating acceleration to force and mass:

#orce $ mass % acceleration

• "orce is measured in newtons, %
• -ass is measured in ilograms, g
• Acceleration is measured in metres !er second suared, ms /.

#alling objects

You should be able to describe the forces affecting a falling object at

different stages of its fall. 0sually, you need to thin about two forces:

1. The weight of the object. This is a force acting downwards,

caused by the object1s mass in the 2arth1s gravitational field.
 2. Air resistance. This is a frictional force acting in the o!!osite
direction to the movement of the object.

Three stages of falling

When an object is dro!!ed, we can identify three stages before it hits
the ground:

3. At the start, the object accelerates downwards because of its

weight. There is no air resistance. There is a resultant force acting
downwards.
/. As it gains s!eed, the object1s weight stays the same, but the air
resistance on it increases. There is a resultant force acting
downwards.
3. 2ventually, the object1s weight is balanced by the air resistance.
There is no resultant force and the object reaches a steady s!eed,
called the terminal velocity.

Terminal velocity
What ha!!ens if you dro! a feather and a coin together4 The feather
and the coin have roughly the same surface area, so when they begin
to fall they have about the same air resistance.
As the feather falls, its air resistance increases until it soon balances
the weight of the feather. The feather now falls at its terminal velocity.
5ut the coin is much heavier, so it has to travel uite fast before air
resistance is large enough to balance its weight. In fact, it !robably
hits the ground before it reaches its terminal velocity.

&n the oon

An astronaut on the -oon carried out a famous e#!eriment. +e
dro!!ed a hammer and a feather at the same time and found that
they landed together. The -oon1s gravity is too wea for it to hold onto
an atmos!here, so there is no air resistance. When the hammer and
feather were dro!!ed, they fell together with the same acceleration.

Circular Motion & Centripetal Force

From Newton’s first law of motion it is known that an object will remain
stationary, or keep moving at constant velocity in a straight line unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force !hen an object moves in a circular
path its direction is changing all the time therefore according to Newton’s
first law there must be an unbalanced force acting upon it all the time

!hen an object moves in a circle although its speed is constant the

direction is continuously changing "herefore its velocity is continuously
changing as velocity is speed in a particular direction "he changing
velocity in time means the object is accelerating all the time

"he resultant force which causes this acceleration is

the centripetal force
The centripetal force always acts toward the centre of the circle.

"he centripetal force is determined from the following e#uation$

%f a ball is tied to the end of a strong string and swung in a circle, the ball
accelerates towards the centre of the circle "he centripetal force which
causes the inwards acceleration is from the tension in the string caused by
the person’s hand pulling the string %f the string breaks there is no longer a
resultant force acting on the ball, so it will continue its motion in a straight
line at constant speed
"he centripetal force re#uired to make an object perform circular motion
increases in the following cases$

 %f the mass of the object increases

 %f the velocity of the object increases

 %f the radius of the circle decreases

"he above points are evident when considering the e#uation for centripetal
force