KS4 Forces – Forces

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What is a force?
A force is a push, pull or twist.

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Say if the following are pushes, pulls or twists:

Push Writing on paper

Push Typing on a keyboard
Tug-of-war Pull
Twist Unscrewing the top off a bottle Twist
Push Posting a letter through a door
Putting on a pair of socks Pull
Twist Turning a door handle Twist

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Types of force you need to know……

Friction Gravity

Air resistance
Magnetism

Tension
Electrostatic

Nuclear

Compression

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Describing the forces

The force you get when two

Magnetism material rub together

The force you get when a

Friction material is being stretched

Compression The force you get when a

material is being squashed

The force that enables

Tension compasses to work

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Describing the forces

Gravity The force that holds the particles

in a nucleus together

Nuclear The force you get when an

object moves through air

The force that exists between all

Air resistance objects with mass

The force you get between two

Electrostatic charged objects

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Attractive or repulsive?

Gravity? Attractive, always

Magnetism? Attractive and repulsive

Electrostatic? Attractive and repulsive

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Contact and non-contact

If two objects or materials need to be touching for the

ONTACT force.
force to have an effect then it is a C________
Examples: Friction
Air resistance
ouching
If two objects or materials do not need to be t______
for the force to have an effect then it is a NON
CONTACT force.
Examples: Gravity
Electrostatic
Magnetic

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Gravity
Gravity is an attractive f____
orce that exists
asses Gravity is always
between all m_____.
ttractive
a_______.
arger the mass is, the greater the
The l____
urther away a
gravitational attraction. The f_____
mass is, the less the gravitational attraction.
Your w____ is the pull of the Earth’s gravity
on youreight
body. The Moon is kept in
orbit around the
If you stood on the M___ you would weigh Earth due to gravity.
less than on Earth. oon
This is because the Moon has less mass
than Earth, so the Moon’s g_________ pull
is weaker than the Earth’s. ravitational

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Mass and weight
What is the difference between mass and weight?
Your mass is a measure of
how many particles there are in
your body. It does not matter
where you are in the Universe,
your mass does not change.
What is mass measured in?
Kilograms
Mass = 10kg
10kg
Weight = 100 N
Your weight is a measure of
the pull of gravity on your
body. Your weight depends
upon what planet you are
standing on.
You would weigh less on
Mercury than on Earth
because Mercury is smaller
than Earth.
What is weight measured in?
Newtons
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Force diagrams

Force diagrams show Draw a force diagram for a falling

you the direction a force object when it first starts to fall.
is acting in. It shows you
the direction an object is Air resistance
being pushed, pulled or
twisted. The direction of
the arrow shows you the
direction of the force. The
sizes of the arrows can
be used to compare the
sizes of the forces.
Weight

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Unused homework diary on a table

What force pulls down on the book?

Gravity

The diary does not move, so there

must be an equal and opposite force
pushing up on the diary.
What do we call this force?
Reaction force
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Forces on a speeding fish?
What is thrust?
A forward push
What is upthrust?
The upwards force on a body in a liquid or a gas

Upthrust

Thrust Friction

Weight

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Label the forces acting on the moving ship shown:

Upthrust or
buoyancy

Air
resistance
Thrust Friction

Weight

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A ship arrives at port and is loaded with cargo:
What happens to the weight of the ship? Increases
What happens to the upthrust on the ship? Increases
Which is the largest force, weight or upthrust? Both equal

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Forces and motion

If an object is stationary and an unbalanced

force acts on it, it will start to move.

If an object is moving and an unbalanced force acts

on it there are three possibilities…

The object could speed

up.
The object could slow
down.
The object could change
direction.

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In which direction, if any will the following
stationery objects move?

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What is friction?

If you rub your hands together there is resistance to the

motion.

What do we call this force?

Friction

What causes it?

Even though your hands
look smooth, on a
microscopic level it is not,
so when your hands rub
together you get the
resistive force of friction.

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Direction of friction

Friction always acts in the For the following moving

opposite direction to the way objects, mark with an
an object is moving. arrow, the direction
friction is acting in.

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Friction effects

Friction always acts in the o______

pposite direction to
which an object is moving in.
orce
Friction is a type of f____.
Whenever you get friction between two objects
eat and w_____.
you always get h___ earing
You can reduce the effect of friction by using a
ubricant O_
l______. il is a lubricant used in car engines to
reduce friction effects.

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Starting moving…
An object will only start to move if the forces applied to it
overcome any frictional forces. For the examples shown say
if the stationary objects will move or not, and if they do move,
say in which direction.

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Friction - useful or hindrance?

Write down three instances where friction is useful and three

where it is a hindrance.
Discuss your ideas with the class and then have a vote on
what the class thinks are the top three for each.

Useful Hindrance

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Which of the following is not a force?

A. Heat 
B. Gravity

C. Tension

D. Friction

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For a man standing up, in which direction
does gravity act?

A.    
B. C. D.

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For a fish in water, what do we call force Z?

A. Friction
Z
B. Air resistance

C. Gravity

D. Upthrust


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In what units is force measured in?

A. Joules

B. Metres

C. Newtons 
D. Seconds

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What device is used to measure force?

A. Clock

B. Voltmeter

C. Joulemeter

D. Newtonmeter 
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