Free Body Diagrams

:acceleration and force

a.k.a. Force Diagrams

Physics
 Explanation

Free Body Diagram

•A free body diagram is a picture

representation of all forces acting on
an object.
:acceleration and force

•We use arrows to represent the

forces and indicate their direction
and magnitude.
•Magnitude expressed by number and
Physics

arrow size.
 Common Forces
• Weight/Force of Gravity- downward force from gravity (Fg)
• Applied force- Any push or pull by a person or another
object (Fapp)
• Normal force- force from surface object is on- always
:acceleration and force

perpendicular to surface (FN)

• Friction- exerted by surface- always opposite the motion (F f
)
• Air Resistance- special frictional force which acts upon
objects as they travel through the air
Physics

• Tension- force exerted by a rope/cable (FT)

• Spring- force exerted by a spring (Fs)
 Constant Velocity
• Balanced forces.
• Could be at rest or moving left, right, up or down.
:acceleration and force
Physics
 Experiencing an Acceleration
• Unbalanced forces
• Can’t tell which way it is moving, can only say
which way it is experiencing an acceleration.
:acceleration and force

Accelerating to the right. Accelerating to the left.

Physics

Could be: Could be:

1.Speeding up to the right 1.Speeding up to the left
2. Slowing down to the left 2. Slowing down to the right
Interpreting motion
• Which of these
objects could be at
rest?
• Which of these
objects could be
:acceleration and force

moving with a
constant velocity?
• Which of these
objects could be
moving right? Left?
Physics

• Which of these object

are accelerating?
 Example

• An apple is sitting on some books on a table. What

would the FBD look like for the apple?
:acceleration and force
Physics
 Example
• A man is pulling on a box. He isn’t pulling hard enough to
overcome friction and cause a net force to act on the box.
What forces are acting on the box?
:acceleration and force
Physics
Example
• What if the man IS pulling hard enough to cause a net force to act
on the box and make it accelerate to the right? What will the
diagram look like then?
 Evaluation

Sky Diver Physics

• A skydiver jumped out of a plane 1 sec ago.
• What would the FBD look like for his motion?

Air Resistance
:acceleration and force

Net force down

= acceleration
down
Physics

Gravity
Sky Diver Physics
• After some time, the skydiver has zero acceleration
• What does this indicate about her speed?
• It is constant

– What is the name for Air Resistance

this equilibrium
:acceleration and force

condition of a falling
Net force of zero
object? = constant
 She has reached velocity
TERMINAL
Physics

VELOCITY Gravity

(air resistance =gravity)