FORCES AND MOTION

Learning outcomes
• Candidates should be able to:
• (a) state Newton’s third law.
• (b) describe the effect of balanced and unbalanced forces on a body.
• (c) describe the ways in which a force may change the motion of a body.
• (d) recall and use the equation force = mass × acceleration.
• (e) explain that friction is a force that impedes motion and produces heating.
• (f) discuss the effect of friction on the motion of a vehicle in the context of
tyre surface, road conditions
• (including skidding), braking force, braking distance, thinking distance and
stopping distance.
• (g) describe qualitatively motion in a circular path due to a constant
perpendicular force, including
• electrostatic forces on an electron in an atom and gravitational forces on a
satellite. (F = mv 2 / r is not
• required.)
• (h) discuss how ideas of circular motion are related to the motion of planets
in the solar system.
 Force
A force is a push or a pull of newtonmeters
one object on another.
Force can not be seen but
its effect can be seen
A force can cause an object
to:
– speed up
– slow down
– change direction
– change shape
Force is measured in
newtons (N).
Force is measured with a
newtonmeter.
 Some types of force
1. Gravitational Force
This is the attractive force exerted
between bodies because of their
masses.

This force increases if either or both

of the masses is increased and
decreases if they are moved further
apart. Bathroom scales measure
weight.
Weight is the gravitational force of A mass of 1kg weighs
the Earth on an object. about 10N
1 stone is about 63N.
2. Normal reaction or contact normal reaction forces

This is the repulsive force that

stops two touching bodies
moving into each other.

The word ’normal’ means that

this force acts at 90° to the
surfaces of the bodies.
weight

It is caused by repulsive The two upward reaction forces

molecular forces. on the tyres balance the
downward weight of the car
3. Friction
This is the force that opposes motion.
The kinetic energy of the moving object is converted
to heat energy by the force of friction.

Friction is needed for racing

Friction is needed for
cars to grip the road
walking!
4. Air resistance or drag
This is the force that opposes the movement of objects
through air.
Drag is a more general term used for the opposition
force in any gas or liquid.
Objects are often streamlined to reduce this force.

streamlined car
a parachute
maximises drag force
5. Upthrust
This is the force
experienced by objects
when they are placed into
a fluid (liquid or gas).

An object will float on a

liquid if the upthrust force
equals its weight.

A hot air balloon rises when the

upthrust from the surrounding
air is greater than the balloon’s
weight.
6. Magnetic
Between magnets
but also the force that
allows electric motors
to work.

7. Electrostatic
Attractive and
Electrostatic force causes the
repulsive forces due girls’ hair to rise when they
to bodies being touch the Van der Graaff
generator.
charged.
Choose appropriate words to fill in the gaps below:
A force
_____ is a push or a pull. A force can cause an object to
___________
accelerate or change shape.
Force is measured in _______
newtons (N) with a newtonmeter.

contact force occurs when

There are many types of force. ________
two bodies touch each other.
motion of one body
opposes the _______
Friction is a force that _______
relative to another. It is caused by the _________
attractive forces
between ___________.
molecules

WORD SELECTION:
newtons accelerate force attractive
opposes molecules contact motion
 Force mass and acceleration
The force, mass and acceleration of an object
are related by the equation:

force = mass × acceleration

F=mxa

force is measured in N
mass is measured in kg
acceleration is measured in m/s2
also:
acceleration = force
mass
and:
force
mass =
acceleration F
m a
Checking the equation
 Question 1
Calculate the force required to cause a car
of mass 1200 kg to accelerate by 5 m/s2.
F=mxa
= 1200 kg x 5 m/s2
Force = 6000 N
 Question 2
Calculate the acceleration produced by a
force of 200N on a mass of 4kg.
F=mxa
becomes: a = F ÷ m
= 200N ÷ 4kg
acceleration = 50 m/s2
 Question 3
Calculate the force that accelerates a mass of
300kg from rest to 6 m/s over a time of 3 seconds.
acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time
= (6 – 0)m/s ÷ 3s
acceleration = 2 m/s2
F=mxa
= 300kg x 2 m/s2
force = 600N
 Complete:
Answers
F m a

24 NN
24 4 kg 6 m/s2

200 N 40 kg
kg 5 m/s2

600 N 30 kg 20 m/s2
20

22 N
N 5g 400 m/s2

5N 100 g 5000
50 cm/s2
 Car forces

When a vehicle travels at a steady speed the frictional forces balance the
driving force.
To slow the car the engine force is reduced by releasing the throttle and the
frictional force is increased by applying the brakes.
 Stopping a car

The total distance required to stop a car, the

stopping distance, is equal to the thinking
distance plus the braking distance.
 Factors affecting stopping distance
1. The reaction time of the driver
This will increase if the driver is tired, distracted or
has consumed alcohol or drugs. Increasing
reaction time increases the thinking distance.

2. The speed of the car

The greater the speed the greater will be both the
thinking and braking distances.
Doubling the speed increases the overall stopping
distance by about four times.
3. The mass of the car and its contents
The greater the mass the greater will be the
braking distance.

4. The condition of the road

Wet and icy roads will cause the braking distance
to increase.

5. The condition of the vehicle

Worn brakes or worn tyres will both increase the
braking distance.
Choose appropriate words to fill in the gaps below:
When a car is moving at a _______
steady speed the engine force is
equal to the resistive force.
stopping
The __________ distance of a car is equal to the thinking
distance plus the _________
braking distance.
alcohol and drugs are all likely to increase the
Tiredness, ________
__________
thinking distance.
four
A car travelling at 60 m.p.h. will require roughly ______
distance
times stopping __________ of a car travelling at 30 m.p.h..

WORD SELECTION:
braking thinking four steady alcohol distance stopping
 Mass and weight
Mass is the amount of matter in an
object.
Mass is measured in kilograms.
The mass of an object is the same on
the Moon as on the Earth.

Weight is the force of gravity on an

object.
Weight is measured in newtons.
The weight of an object on the Moon is
about one sixth that on the Earth.

A newtonmeter is used to determine

the weight of the parcel
 The acceleration due to gravity (g)
The acceleration due to gravity (g) varies with planet, moon and star
and depends on the height of an object.

Some examples of the acceleration due to gravity:

Location m/s2 Location m/s2

Earth 10 Jupiter 24
Moon 1.6 Pluto 0.7
Mars 3.7 The Sun 270
 Gravitational field strength (g)
This is an alternative way of measuring the strength of gravity.

The gravitational field strength is equal to the gravitational force exerted per kilogram.

Near the Earth’s surface, g = 10 N/kg

In most cases gravitational field strength in N/kg is numerically equal to the acceleration due to gravity in m/s 2, hence they both use the same symbol ‘g’.
 Calculating weight
weight = mass × gravitational acceleration

W=mxg

weight is measured in N
mass is measured in kg
gravitational acceleration is measured in m/s2

On the Earth’s surface a mass of 1kg

has a weight of 10N.
 Falling objects
When an object falls through air
or some other fluid initially the
only significant force acting on it
is the downward pull of gravity.

On Earth, it will initially accelerate

downwards at 10 m/s2.
As the object speeds up
frictional forces such as air
resistance become greater the
faster the object moves.

Eventually the resultant force

on the object will be zero when
the frictional forces equal the
weight of the object.

The object then moves at a

constant speed called terminal
velocity.
Velocity-time graphs for a falling object
 Parachuting
A parachutist will have two Afterwards, due the much greater
different terminal velocities. drag force, the terminal velocity is
Before opening the parachute it about 5 m/s (12 m.p.h.)
is about 60 m/s (140 m.p.h..).
Velocity-time graph of a parachutist
velocity
first terminal parachute
velocity opened

ground
initial reached
acceleration
= 10 m/s2
second terminal
velocity

time
 Vectors and Scalars
All physical quantities (e.g. speed and force) are
described by a magnitude and a unit.

VECTORS – also need to have their direction

specified
examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force,
Moment, Momentum

SCALARS – do not have a direction

examples: distance, speed, mass, work, energy.
 Addition of vectors
4N 4N
6N 6N
object object
resultant = 10N
object

The original vectors are called COMPONENT vectors.

The final overall vector is called the RESULTANT vector.

4N 6N 6N 4N
object object

resultant = 2N
object
 Resultant force
A number of forces acting
on a body may be
replaced by a single force 3N
which has the same effect 2N
on the body as the original
forces all acting together.

This overall force is called

resultant force.
5N
In the example opposite,
5N is the resultant force of
the 3N and 2N forces.
Determine the resultant force in the cases below:

1. 4N 2.
6N
10N 3N 4N
1N

3. 3N 4. 5.
6N 4N
4N

4N
7N There is no resultant
2N 4N case
force in this
Resultant force and motion
Resultant force Effect on the motion
of an object
Object’s velocity stays
Zero the same including
staying stationary
In the direction the Object accelerates
object is moving
In the opposite Object decelerates
direction in which the
object is moving
 Examples 1 & 2

The box will move The plane will

when the man’s push accelerate provided
force is greater than that the engine force is
the friction force. greater than the drag
force.
 Examples 3 & 4

The brakes exert a Once released, the

resultant force in glider moves at a near
the opposite constant velocity as it
direction to the experiences a nearly
car’s motion zero horizontal
causing the car to resultant force.
decelerate.
 Representing Vectors
An arrowed straight Displacement 50m EAST
line is used.

The arrow indicates

the direction and the Displacement 25m at
length of the line is 45o North of East

proportional to the
magnitude.