IGCSE PHYSICS

Forces and Shape

 Forces
● A force can be defined as a push or a pull on any object.
● Forces may cause an object to:
○ Change their velocity.
○ Change their direction.
○ Change their shape.
● Forces have both magnitude and direction.
○ There are many examples of forces.

PULLING FORCE PUSHING FORCE

(DRAG) (THRUST)
There are many different kinds of forces.

Force Description

Gravity The force between any 2 objects with mass.

Thrust The force that pushes or pulls a vehicle.

Drag The force of friction on a moving object.

Lift The upward force on an object.

Electrostatic Force The force between any 2 objects with a charge.

The force between 2 objects in constant

Normal Force
contact.

Tension The force that stretches an object.

 Objects that have significant mass (such as moons and planets)
can exert gravitational forces on each other. This keeps the Earth
and the Moon in orbit.

GRAVITATIONAL GRAVITATIONAL
FORCE EXERTED FORCE EXERTED

BY EARTH BY MOON
 Electrostatic force (often
referred to as static electricity)
+ -
is generated when there is an
imbalance of positive and
negative charge in objects. This
can generate significant force.
 Electrostatic force (often
referred to as static electricity)
is generated when there is an
imbalance of positive and
negative charge in objects. This
can generate significant force.
 Vectors and Scalars
● Quantities may be either vectors or scalars.
● A vector quantity is a measure of both magnitude and direction.
○ Velocity, acceleration and displacement are all examples of vector
quantities.
● A scalar quantity is a measure of magnitude only.
○ Mass, distance and time are all examples of scalars.
● All forces are vector quantities.
○ Forces like gravity, thrust and drag describe both magnitude and direction.
 GRAVITATIONAL
FORCE

B
MA LOC
SS K W
OF IT
10 H
0k
g
FRICTION

RAMP
LIFT

There are several different

The mass of the block is 100 kg.
Mass is a scalar quantity as it is
a measure of magnitude only.
forces being exerted on the
block. All of these forces have
both magnitude and direction
and are thus examples of vector
quantities.
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the aeroplane?
Click on the slide to see the labels or the ‘next’ button to
move to the next image without seeing the labels.

Next
 Spot the forces
lift (caused by the air
flowing over the wings)

drag (air thrust (from

resistance) the engines)

weight
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the boy?

Next
Spot the forces

upwards force
from stool

weight
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the car?

mass = 1500 kg velocity = 20 m/s

Next
Spot the forces
upwards force from road

friction and air forwards force

resistance from the engine

weight
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the gymnast?

Next
Spot the forces
upwards forces
from rings

weight
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the diver?

Next
Spot the forces

upthrust

forwards drag (water

force from resistance)
flippers

weight
Spot the forces
What forces are acting on the skier?

Next
Spot the forces
Force at right angles to the
ground (normal force)

There is no
specific
forwards
force, but
because the
ground is air resistance and
sloping, part of friction
her weight is
acting to pull
her down the
hill.

weight
 Balanced and Unbalanced Forces
● Forces may be either balanced or unbalanced.
● Forces are balanced when the effect of one force is cancelled out by
another force.
○ If an object is stationary, it will remain stationary.
○ If an object is moving, it will continue to move at the same velocity.
● Forces are unbalanced when one force is stronger than the other.
○ If an object is stationary, it will begin to move.
○ If an object is moving, it will being to accelerate or decelerate.
● The overall force acting on an unbalanced object is called the
resultant force.

21
 5N 5N 5N 10 N
OBJECT A OBJECT B

The two forces acting on object A
are equal. The object is said to
be balanced. Object A has a
resultant force of 0 N.
The two forces acting on object B
are not equal. The object is said
to be unbalanced. Object B has a
resultant force of 5 N leftwards
(10 - 5 = 5 N).

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 Friction
● Friction can be defined as the force that
opposes the motion of an object.
○ Friction will act to slow a moving object.
● Friction occurs when two or more objects are
rubbing against each other: FR
IC TIO
○ Static friction occurs when two solid surfaces are N
gripping against each other.
○ Sliding friction occurs when two solid objects are
sliding past each other.
○ Drag occurs when a solid object moves through a fluid FO
RC
(air or water). E

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SURFACE A

SURFACE B
The source of dry friction is any
imperfection on the surface of an
object. This causes a force that
SURFACE C opposes the motion of an object.
Surface D will create significantly
more friction than surface A.
SURFACE D

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 Resultant Force
● When a resultant force is present, the forces acting
on an object are unbalanced.
○ This leads to acceleration or declaration of the object in question.
○ The resultant force can be calculated using the equation:

F = resultant force RESULTANT

m = mass of object FORCE

a = acceleration of object

● The relationship between force, mass, and acceleration

can be summarized using a formula triangle. MASS ACCELERATION

Using a formula triangle,

resultant force can be calculated
as mass × acceleration.
 Hooke’s Law
● The relationship between an elastic object and the force applied to
it is summarized by Hooke’s law.
○ Hooke’s Law was devised by physicist Robert Hooke in 1676.
● Hooke’s law states that the extension of an elastic object is
proportional to the force applied.
○ Hooke’s law is most often applied to springs.
● Hooke’s law only holds true whilst the object is elastic.
○ After a certain point, the object is likely to become deformed and will not
return to its original length.
○ This is called the limit of proportionality.
 Robert Hooke was an English
physicist and polymath who proposed
Hooke’s law in 1676.

F = force (N)
k = constant of a spring (N/m)
e = extension of object (m)
 Investigating Hooke’s Law
● Hooke’s law can be demonstrated using a spring and a set of
weights.
1. Clamp a spring to a weighted stand.
2. Assemble a set of weights with known masses.
a. A set of 10, each weighing 1 kg would be appropriate.
3. Measure the spring with no weights attached.
a. This is the natural length of the spring.
4. Add a weight to the spring and measure the new length. SPRING RULER
a. This will cause the spring to stretch.
b. The difference between the new length and the natural length is the extension of
the object (e).
5. Continue adding weights until the spring no longer recoils back
to its original length.
a. At this point the limit of proportionality has been reached.
b. Hooke’s law video.

1 kg
WEIGHT
 Force-Extension Graphs
● When a force is applied to an elastic
object, the object is stretched in a
linear fashion. LIMIT OF PROPORTIONALITY

○ This means that there will be a 2. THE SECOND PART OF

straight-line relationship between THE GRAPH DOES NOT

OBEY HOOKE’S LAW - THE

force and extension.

OBJECT HAS BECOME
PERMANENTLY
STRETCHED

● After a certain point, the object will

become permanently stretched.

FORCE
1. THE FIRST PART OF

○ There will no longer be a straight- THE GRAPH OBEYS

HOOKE’S LAW - A
LINEAR

line relationship between force and RELATIONSHIP IS

OBSERVED

extension.
● The relationship between force and
extension can be displayed using a EXTENSION

graph.
○ This is called a force-extension graph.
 Elasticity
● An elastic object is one that, when stretched, will return to its
original length when the force applied to it is removed.
○ Objects that exhibit elasticity include metal springs and rubber.
● An inelastic object is one that, when stretched will not return to its
original length.
○ At this point the object is said to have been deformed.
○ Objects that exhibit inelasticity include plastics and glass.
Rubber band
Steel springs exhibit elasticity and are often used in mechanisms
where extension and compression are vital. 34
Once deformed, inelastic materials like plastics will not return to
35
their original shape.