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The document discusses contact and non-contact forces. Contact forces require touching and include normal force, friction, spring force, and thrust. Non-contact or long-range forces act from a distance without touching, such as gravitational force, magnetic force, and electric force. The document also provides instructions for drawing a free-body diagram to analyze the net force on an object from multiple contact and non-contact forces.

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59 views

PHYSICS-NOTES y

The document discusses contact and non-contact forces. Contact forces require touching and include normal force, friction, spring force, and thrust. Non-contact or long-range forces act from a distance without touching, such as gravitational force, magnetic force, and electric force. The document also provides instructions for drawing a free-body diagram to analyze the net force on an object from multiple contact and non-contact forces.

Uploaded by

Angelo Dela Torre
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CONTACT AND NON- CONTACT FORCES

Contact Forces

➢A contact force acts on an object only by touching.

➢Let us say that you are holding a book or a book is


lying on the top of a table. If you are holding the book,
your hand is touching it and exerts a force on it.
Likewise, if your book is lying on the table, the table is in
contact with it and exerts a force on it. Your hand exerts
a force on the book when you are touching it, the same
way that the desk exerts a force on the book when they
are in contact with one another.

1. Tension Force
- In a laboratory, force can be measured
using a spring balance. When a force pulls
on the hook at the bottom end, the spring
stretches until it provides an equal
balancing force. The force is read on a scale
calibrated in newton.
- The figure shows two pairs of forces acting
when a 1-kg mass is suspended with a piece
of string on a spring balance. The force in
the string is called tension.

By definition, we can say that tension is the pull exerted


by a string, rope, or cable when attached to a body and
pulled taut. It is always directed away from the object 2. Normal Force
and parallel to the rope, string, or cable at the point of - Is a contact force exerted by a surface on an
attachment. object. Its direction is perpendicular but away
from the surface
Example

A force of 20 𝑁 pulls two carts tied together Let us say that a book is on a table. The normal face on
with a string (as shown in the illustration). The carts, the book is a vector perpendicular to the table, exerted
with masses 3 𝑘𝑔 and 4 𝑘𝑔, respectively, run on a on the book.
smooth level surface. Find

a. The acceleration of the 4 𝑘𝑔 cart

b. The acceleration of the 3 𝑘𝑔 cart

c. The tension on the string connecting the two carts.


3. Kinetic and Static Friction b. Locate the point at which the system is
- Friction (F ) whether static or kinetic is a contact touched by the environment.
force. This contact force acts to oppose sliding
c. Draw the direction of motion including the
motion between surfaces. The direction of this
velocity and acceleration. In this case, the crate
force is parallel to the surface and opposite the
is moving upward, and the speed is increasing,
direction of sliding
so the direction of the acceleration is also
4. Spring Force
upward. Indicate the direction of forces.
- Spring force is a contact force which is either a
pull or a push exerted on an object by a spring. d. Draw a free-body diagram replacing the crate
The direction of this force is opposite the with a dot and draw the arrows representing
displacement of the object at the end of the the forces acting on the crate.
spring
5. Thrust
- This contact force is the general term for the
forces that move objects such as rockets,
airplanes, cars, and people. Its direction is the
same as the direction of acceleration of the
object barring any resistive forces.

Non- Contact Forces

The second kind of force is the non-contact force or


otherwise known as the long-range force. A non-contact
or a long-range force is a force that is exerted from a
distance without contact or touching. Some examples of
non-contact forces are gravitational force (such as
weight), magnetic force, and electric force.

1. Gravitational Force
- This is the non-contact force between two
bodies in the universe due to the gravitational
attraction between them. This is gravitational
force of attraction between the Earth and the
moon, between the Earth and the sun, or The forces acting on the crate are 𝐹𝑔 or its
between any two objects. Gravitational force is weight and 𝐹 or the tension on the cable. The
an attractive force acceleration is going up.
- Two bodies exert action-reaction forces which
are equal in magnitude but oppositely directed. The sum of the forces acting on the crate
This is a typical action at a distant force. An The 𝐹𝑔 is negative because it is opposite the direction
example of this type of force is weight. of motion.
2. Other non-contact forces such as magnetic force
and electric force will be discussed next semester
3.
4. (General Physics II)

Drawing a Free-body Diagram

A free-body diagram is a physical model of an object


that is affected by several forces, both contact and non-
contact forces. Since the acceleration of a body is due to
the net force acting on it, it is important that we know
how to find the net force. The net force is the sum of all
the forces acting on the body. It is important that we
know how to get the sum of these forces or specifically,
the resultant force. Let us have an example.

1. A cable is lifting a crate. The speed of the crate is


increasing. How are the forces on the crate related to
the change in speed?

a. Choose a coordinate system which defines


the positive direction of the velocity.

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