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Forces Summary

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Samuel Olugbemi
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24 views

Forces Summary

Uploaded by

Samuel Olugbemi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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7K Summary Sheets

Forces and their effects


Forces are pushes or pulls.

Forces can:

● change the shape or size of an object


● change the speed things are moving (make them move faster or slower)
● change the direction of a moving object.
7
The units for measuring force are newtons (N). K
Friction is a force caused by two things rubbing together. Air resistance and water
resistance are kinds of friction. They are sometimes called drag.

Upthrust pushes things up. Solid things, like your chair, give you upthrust. Things
float in water because of upthrust.

Contact forces need to touch the thing that they are affecting. Examples of contact
forces are:

● friction
● air resistance
● water resistance
● upthrust.

Some forces do not need to touch the thing that they are affecting. They are called
non-contact forces. There are three non-contact forces:

● magnetism
● gravity
● static electricity.

Balanced forces

upthrust

downward force
from string

The upwards and downwards forces on this balloon are balanced. The forces here are balanced. The girl will not move, and neither will
The balloon will not move. the wall!

A rocket in space does not need to use its engine to keep moving. There is no air in
space, so there is no air resistance to slow it down.

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Exploring Science for QCA Copymaster File 7 483 © Pearson Education Limited 2002
7K Summary Sheets (continued)

If you are floating in a swimming pool, your weight and the upthrust are balanced.

upthrust

7
K

weight (gravity)

Density and floating


You can decide if something will float by working out its density. Density is the mass
of a certain volume of something, and it can be calculated using this formula:
mass
density =
volume
The units for density are g/cm3.

The density of water is 1 g/cm3. If an object has a density less than 1 g/cm3 it will float.
If its density is greater it will sink.

Measuring forces
Elastic materials will stretch with a force and then return
to their original shape when the force is taken away. N 0
1

Materials like Plasticine will stretch with a force but they 2


3
will not return to their original shape afterwards. 4
Plasticine is not elastic. 5

Springs are used to measure the size of a force because This force meter
they are elastic. A big force stretches a spring further than is measuring a
a small force. Force meters have springs inside them. force of 1 N.

Weight and mass


Your mass is the amount of substance in your body. Your mass is measured in
kilograms (kg).

Your weight is a force caused by gravity pulling on your body. The newton (N) is the
scientific unit used to measure forces, and so it is also used as the unit for weight.

Wherever you take an object, its mass will not change but its weight depends on the
force of gravity. An object on the Moon would have a smaller weight than on Earth,
because the Moon’s gravity is not as strong as Earth’s.

On Earth, gravity pulls on every kilogram of mass with a force of 10 N.


Page 2 of 3
Exploring Science for QCA Copymaster File 7 484 © Pearson Education Limited 2002
7K Summary Sheets (continued)

Friction
Friction is a contact force. Friction can:

● slow things down


● wear things away
● produce heat
● make a noise.
7
Friction is sometimes helpful, for instance: Friction is not always helpful: K
● your shoes grip the floor because ● parts of engines wear away because
of friction of friction
● tyres and brakes use friction ● friction makes bicycles harder
● pencils write because of friction. to pedal.

Friction can be increased by using rough surfaces, or by using materials like rubber
that have a lot of friction.

Friction can be reduced by using smooth surfaces, or by lubrication. Things like oil or
grease are lubricants, and help things to move past each other easily.

Speed
To measure how fast something is travelling you need to measure the distance it
travels and the time taken. Units of speed are km/h or m/s or mph. The units for
speed depend on the units you have used to measure the distance and the time.

Stopping distances
A moving car takes some time to stop. The distance it travels while the driver is
deciding whether to stop is called the thinking distance, and the distance it travels
while it is slowing down is called the braking distance. If you add the two distances
together you get the stopping distance.

Stopping distances are longer if the


road is wet or icy, if the car has
worn tyres, or if the driver is tired 3
or has been drinking alcohol.

Distance/time graphs
A journey can be shown 2
Distance (km)

on a distance/time graph.
This graph shows a person
running, then stopping for
a rest, then walking 1
slowly. The steeper the
line on the graph, the
faster they are moving.
0
0 10 20 30 40
Time (minutes)

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Exploring Science for QCA Copymaster File 7 485 © Pearson Education Limited 2002

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