PHYSICS

FORCES - Vectors
and Moments

Made By:
Natashya,Tiselle,
Vanessa
Grade 11S
Combining Forces
The
The forces
forces acting
acting on
on the
the car
car are:
are:
Force is a vector quantity which
shows both magnitude and ■
■ its
its weight
weight WW (=(= mg)
mg)
direction. ■ the contact
■ the contact force
force NN of
of the
the road
road (its
(its
normal
normal reaction)
reaction)
F ■
■ air
air resistance
resistance D D
■ the forward
■ the forward force
force FF caused
caused byby
friction
friction between
between the
the car
car tyres
tyres and
and the
the
road.
road.

D The
The combined
combined effect
effect of
of several
several forces
forces
is
is known
known as the resultant
as the resultant force.
force.
Two forces in a straight line
A
A falling
falling tennis
tennis ball
ball may
may be
be
acted
acted onon by
by two
two forces:
forces: its
its weight
weight
mg, downwards, and
mg, downwards, and air
air
resistance D, upwards.
resistance D, upwards.

Resultant
Resultant force
force =
= mg
mg −−DD
=
= 1.0
1.0 −
− 0.2
0.2 =
= 0.8
0.8 N
N

A
A force
force may
may be be positive
positive or
or
negative;
negative; aa sign convention is
sign convention is
used
used to
to tell
tell you
you the
the direction
direction of
of
the
the resultant
resultant force
force (and
(and hence
hence
acceleration).
acceleration).
Two
Two forces
forces at
at right
right angles
angles To
To find
find resultant
resultant force:
force:

Two
Two forces
forces acting
acting on
on the
the
shuttlecock:
shuttlecock: its
its weight
weight
vertically
vertically downwards,
downwards, andand the
the
horizontal
horizontal push
push of
of the
the wind.
wind.

Magnitude
Magnitude of
of resultant
resultant force
force R=
R=
R^2=
R^2= 6.0^2+8.0^2=
6.0^2+8.0^2= 100
100
R
R =10N
=10N

Direction
Direction of
of resultant
resultant force
force R=
R=
tan(θ)
tan(θ) =
= Opposite
Opposite // Adjacent
Adjacent
=8.0/6.0
=8.0/6.0
=4/3
=4/3
=53°.
=53°.
Three or more forces

End
End of of the
the third
third arrow
arrow
The
The diagram
diagram shows
shows thethe three
three correspond
correspond with with the
the start
start of
of the
the
forces
forces acting
acting on
on it:
it: first
first arrow,
arrow, soso the
the three
three arrows
arrows
■
■ weight
weight acting
acting downwards
downwards form
form a a closed
closed triangle.
triangle. This
This tells
tells
■
■ the
the tension
tension in
in the
the thread
thread us
us that
that the
the resultant
resultant force
force R R on
on
■
■ the
the push
push of
of the
the wind.
wind. the
the spider
spider is
is zero,
zero, that
that is,
is, R
R= = 0.
0.
No
No resultant
resultant force=equilibrium
force=equilibrium
Component of Vectors ● The diagram shows how to
resolve a force F into its
Force
Force has
has two
two effects
effects or
or horizontal and vertical
components:
components: components.
an
an upwards
upwards (vertical)
(vertical) component
component ● Two components are in two
and
and a
a sideways
sideways (horizontal)
(horizontal) directions at right angle to
component.
component. each other.
● The perpendicular
components are
independent of one
another.
● Because the two
components are at 90° to
Horizontal
Horizontal component
component of
of F,
F, each other, a change in
Fx
Fx =
= Fcos
Fcos θ
θ one will have no effect on
Vertical
Vertical component
component of
of F,
F, the other.
Fy
Fy =
= Fsin
Fsin θ
θ
Making use of Components

● If the car is released, it accelerates

down the ramp.

● This happens because of the weight

of the car, which acts vertically
downwards. This by itself does not
determine the resulting motion.

● However, the weight has a

component which acts down the
slope. By calculating the component
of the car’s weight down the slope,
we can determine its acceleration.

Two forces acting on the trolley:
■ W, the weight of the trolley,
which acts vertically
downwards;
■ N, the contact force of the
ramp, which acts at right
angles to the ramp.
The forces cannot/are not
balanced as they do not act in
the same straight line.
Finding the component of W down the
slope:
● The angle between W and the slope.
● The slope makes an angle θ with the
horizontal (blue line). The angle
between the weight and the ramp is
(90°− θ)`
● Rule for calculating the component
of a vector:
component of W down the slope
= Wcos(90°− θ)
= Wsin θ
(It is helpful to recall that cos(90°− θ) =
sin θ.)
The angle between N and the slope is
90°. So:

● component of N down the slope =

Ncos 90° = 0.

● N has no component down the

slope.

● This shows why it is useful to think

in terms of the components of
forces; we don’t know the value of
N, but, since it has no effect down
the slope, we can ignore it.

● Only influenced by its weight.

 Changing the slope

If the slope of the ramp is steeper, the

trolley will move down the ramp with
greater acceleration. There is an
increased in θ, and so the component of
W down the slope will have increased.

Trolley’s acceleration:
● trolley’s mass is m;
● its weight is mg.

So the force F making it accelerate down the slope is:

We could have arrived at this
F = mg sin θ
result simply by saying that
the trolley’s acceleration would
Since from Newton’s second law for constant mass
be the component of g down
we have a = F/m, the trolley’s acceleration (a) is given
the slope. The steeper the
by:
slope, the greater the value of
sin θ, and hence the greater
the trolley’s acceleration.
1. Draw a labelled diagram showing all the forces
acting on the object of interest (free-body force
diagram). The forces are:
- the boy’s weight W = 40 × 9.81 = 392N
- the frictional force up the slope F = 120N
- the contact force N at 90° to the slope.
Solving problems by resolving forces
Q. A boy of mass 40kg is on a waterslide which
slopes at 30° to the horizontal. The frictional
force up the slope is 120N. Calculate the boy’s
acceleration down the slope. Take the
acceleration of free fall g to be 9.81ms−2.

1. Find the resultant force on the boy which makes him

accelerate down the slope. We resolve the forces
down the slope, i.e. we find their components in that
direction.

- component of W down the slope = 392 × cos(60°)

=196N
- component of F down the slope = −120N (negative
since it’s directed up the slope)
- component of N down the slope = 0 (at 90° to the
slope)
4. Calculate his acceleration:
Acceleration= resultant force/mass
= 76/40 = 1.9ms−2

1. Calculate the resultant force on the boy: So the boy’s acceleration down the
resultant force = 196 −120 = 76N slope is 1.9ms−2.

The dots indicate the athlete’s
centre of gravity, which
follows a smooth trajectory
through the air. With his body
curved like this, the athlete’s
centre of gravity is actually
outside his body, just below
the small of his back. At no
time is the whole of his body
above the bar.
Centre of Gravity
● We have weight because of the
force of gravity of the Earth on us.
● The overall effect of gravity acts at
a single point, which is our centre
of gravity.
● The centre of gravity of an object
is defined as the point where all
the weight of the object may be
considered to act.
Easier to solve problems if we simply indicate an
object’s weight by a single force acting at the centre of
gravity (rather than a large number of forces acting on
each part of the object).
The athlete performs a complicated manoeuvre.
However, we can see that his centre of gravity follows a
smooth, parabolic path through the air, just like the paths
of projectiles.
Finding the centre of gravity

The centre of gravity of a thin lamina of

cardboard / metal can be found by suspending it
freely from two or three points.
● Small holes are made round the edge of the
irregularly shaped object.
● A pin is put through one of the holes and held firmly in a
clamp and stand so the object can swing freely.
● A length of string is attached to the pin. The other end of
the string has a heavy mass attached to it. This
arrangement is called a plumb line.
● The object will stop swinging when its centre of gravity is
vertically below the point of suspension.
● A line is drawn on the object along the vertical string of
the plumb line. The centre of gravity must lie on this line.
● To find the position of the centre of gravity, the process is
repeated with the object suspended from different holes.
The centre of gravity will be at the point of intersection of
the lines drawn on the object.
The turning effect of a force
● Forces can make things
accelerate.
● They can make an object
turn round.
The quantity that tells us the
turning effect of a force about
a pivot is its moment.
● The moment of a force is
bigger if the force is
bigger.
● The moment of a force is
bigger if it acts further
from the pivot
● The moment of a force is
greatest if it acts at 90° to
the object it acts on.
 Moment of a force
What is meant by moment of a force?
The moment of a force is defined as:
The moment of a force = force ×
perpendicular distance of
the pivot from the line of action of the
force.
moment = force × distance from pivot
= F1 × X1
The quantity which tells us about the
turning effect of a force is its moment.
The moment of a force depends on
two quantities:
● The magnitude of the force.
● The perpendicular distance of the
force from the pivot.
The unit of moment is the
newton metre (N m).
There are two ways to calculate the
moment of the force.
Method 1: Method 2:
Draw a perpendicular line from the pivot to Calculate the component of F2 which
the line of the is at 90° to the lever.
force. Find the distance x2. Calculate the This is F2 sin θ. Multiply this by d.
moment of the moment = F2 sin θ × d
force, F2 × x2. From the right-angled We get the same result as Method 1:
triangle, we can see that: moment of force = F2d sin θ
x2 = d sin θ
Hence:
moment of force = F2 × d sin θ = F2d sin θ
 Balanced or Unbalanced

The principle of moments states that:

For any object that is in equilibrium,
Σ anticlockwise= Σ clockwise
We can use the idea of the moment of a
force to solve two sorts of problem: 1
● We can check whether an object will
remain balanced or start to rotate.
● We can calculate an unknown force or
distance if we know
that an object is balanced. 2
 Work example:
Is the seesaw shown in the figure in
equilibrium (balanced), or will it start to
rotate?
The see-saw will remain balanced,
because the 20 N force is twice as
far from the pivot as the 40 N force.
Step 1:Determine the anticlockwise moment.
moment of anticlockwise force
=20×2.0=40 N m
Step 2:Determine the clockwise moment:
moment of clockwise force
= 40 × 1.0 = 40 N m
We can see that:
clockwise moment = anticlockwise moment
So the see-saw is balanced and therefore
does not rotate. The see-saw is in
equilibrium.
 The torque of a couple
What is the torque of a couple?
The torque of a couple is defined as
follows:
torque of a couple = one of the forces ×
perpendicular distance between the
forces
A pair of forces like that in the
figure is known as a couple. A
couple has a turning effect, but
does not cause an object to
accelerate. To form a couple, the
two forces must be:
● equal in magnitude
● parallel, but opposite in
direction
● separated by a distance d.
The figure shows the forces needed to
turn a car’s steering wheel. The two
forces balance up and down (15 N up
and 15 N down), so the wheel will not
move up, down or sideways. However, The turning effect or moment of a couple is
the wheel is not in equilibrium. The pair known as its torque. We can calculate the
of forces will cause it to rotate. torque of the couple in the figure by adding
the moments of each force about the
centre of the wheel:

torque of couple = (15 × 0.20) + (15×0.20)

= 6.0 N m
 Pure turning effect

For an object to be in equilibrium,

two conditions must be met at the
● The moment of a couple does not
same time:
depend on the point about which it ● The resultant force acting on
acts, only on the perpendicular the object is zero.
distance between the two forces. ● The resultant moment is
zero.
● A single force acting on an object will
tend to make the object accelerate
(unless there is another force to
balance it).
FUN FACTS!
Forces can cancel each other out Force is thrilling

In a game of tug-of-war, each team tries
to yank the opposing team forward by
exerting a more powerful pulling force
on the rope. If the forces balance,
nobody moves. If one force is stronger
than the other, though, the rope moves.
Roller coasters use the force of
gravity to make a rip-roaring ride.
When the roller coaster cars get to
the top, gravity pulls them down the
track toward the ground, getting
faster and faster.

Forces give us superpowers

You don’t need superpowers to go as fast

as a sports car: Just go skydiving! The
moment you step out of a plane, gravity
pulls you down. In only three seconds,
you pass 62mph (100kph).
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
1. The person in Figure 4.12 is pulling
a large box using a rope. Use the
idea of components of a force to
explain why they are more likely to
get the box to move if the rope is
horizontal (as in a) than if it is
sloping upwards (as in b).
Answer:

The steeper the slope, the greater will be

the value of tita. This results in the
increase in the component of W (which
means more force is needed to make the
box move). On the other hand, we know
that F = ma. With a constant value of
mass and an increasing value of
acceleration (due to the increase in
component of W), we can say that the
value of F will proportionally increase.
2a) Jack has a weight of 400 N and
sits 1.5 m from the pivot of
see-saw. Jill has a weight of 300 N
and sits 2.0 m from pivot. Who will
move down and why?

b) To form a couple, the force should be:

A. Equal to the magnitude
B.Parallel and opposite
C.Separated by distance
D.All of the above
 Answers:
1a) None of them is moving down
as both have equal moments.
400 x 1.5=600
300 x 2.0=600
So we can say that moment
anticlockwise is equal to moment
clockwise

1b) D (All of the above)