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FORCES AND MOTION

Vocabulary:

Force:

Refers to ……………………………………………………………………………………

Motion:

Refers to the change in position of an object with respect to its surroundings in a given
interval of time.

Motion is brought about by the imbalances in forces acting on a body

Study the drawings below

Contact force

Pickup truck

Towing truck

Friction

Weight Towing force

In this scenario;

The contact force is equal and balanced with the weight of the pickup truck. This
pickup does not move off the ground or sink into it.

The towing force on the pickup truck is smaller than the friction between the tyres
and the ground of the pickup truck. So, the pickup remains in position.
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Activity

The driver of the towing truck decided to reduce friction of the puckup truck. He lifted the
rear of the pickup so that 2 rear wheels were off the ground.

1. How did this decision reduce the friction of the pickup?

2. How will this eventually lead to the towing truck moving the pickup?

In the above case, you should notice that lifting the pickup could only happen if the
contact force was greater than its weight.

When forces acting on the body are not balanced this may result in the body
experiencing motion.

Change in motion can be:

 A body starting to move

 Continuing to move
 Increasing speed
 Reducing speed
 Changing direction of movement

Inertia

The property of matter due to which it preserves its state of rest or uniform motion is

called inertia.
Examples

ii. A coin rests on a piece of card. Quickly remove the card horizontally, or flick the

card sharply, the coin falls in the jar. The coin will not go with the card, but falls

down vertically in the jar. This is because; in horizontal direction the stationary

coin remains at rest.

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iii. When a lorry is suddenly stopped, the passengers are always fallen forward

which causes the front springs of the car to squeeze

down due to more weight. This is because any

object which has mass causes inertia. It tends to

resist any change to the state of motion.

Inertia

iv. If a bus suddenly stops after applying brakes, the passengers fall in the forward

direction. The upper part of the passengers, sitting inside the bus bend forward

due to inertia. Nothing happens to the lower part of the body of a passenger

because it is in contact

with the seat of the bus

and is stopped with it.

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v. When a fast moving cyclist applies brakes suddenly, he or she falls forward at

the handle because the lower part of his body stops with the bicycle but the

upper part continues its motion, so cyclist falls forward.

Conclusion

By the above explanation of inertia, we conclude that the state of rest or motion does

not change by itself unless an external force acts upon it. Every object or body in the

universe opposes the force which tends to change its state of rest or of uniform motion.

The bigger the mass, the greater the inertia of a body. This is so because, heavy bodies

due to greater inertia requires forces of large magnitude and bodies of small masses

require small forces.

The law of inertia is similar to the Newton's First Law of Motion , which can be defined

as;

An object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion

in a straight line at a constant speed unless an external force is applied on

it.
Explanation

First law of motion consists of two parts:

1. The first part states that a body at rest remains at rest unless an unbalanced
force acts upon it, for example, a chair on the floor remains at rest unless it is
lifted or pushed by an external force.
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2. Second part states that a body in motion remains in motion with uniform velocity
(speed in a specified direction) unless an unbalanced force acts upon it. This part
will only apply if a body is placed in a vacuum.

This part is not supportive on the Eart

Earth because for example, a ball pushed once
does not continue its motion forever. A little consideration however, shows that there
is an opposing force like ground friction and air friction acting in this case. These
frictional forces are responsible to stop the ball. If we overcome these opposing
forces, a body in motion will continue its motion forever as they move in the space.

Air resistance

Thrust

Resultant Forces

Two or more forces acting at an object can be added or subtracted into a single force

known as the resultant force

force.

If the two forces are

e acting in the same direction, the resultant is the sum of both forces,

in the same direction. The magnitude of resultant force in the following figure is 5N,

which is acting to the right.

Resultant Force
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If the two forces are acting in the opposite dir

directions,
ections, the resultant force is the difference

of two forces which acts in the direction of the larger force. The magnitude of resultant

force in the following figure is 1N, which is acting to the right.

Resultant Force

In the following figure, resultant force is acting to the left. The magnitude of resultant

force in the following figure is 3N, which is acting to the left.

Resultant Force

Force Of Friction

The force which opposes the motion of a moving body is called friction.

When a body slides over the surface of another body, an opposing force, which is

known as force of friction is set up between two touching, surfaces to resist the motion.

Force of Friction
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Force of friction tends to decelerate a body and always acts in the opposite direction of
o

motion. Surfaces which look very smooth also cause force of friction. Brakes are applied

to stop moving vehicles by using force of friction. It converts the kinetic energy into heat

and sound energies.

In the following figure, force of friction due to su

surface
rface of the ground is 10 N. Resultant

force of 40 N is acting to the right.

Force of Friction

Reducing Friction

 Friction can be reduced by lubrication to separate the surfaces in contact.

 It can be reduced by streamlining.
 Friction can be minimizing b
by polishing surfaces.

Reducing Friction
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Advantages Of Friction

Friction is not always a BAD thing.

 Without friction between our shoes and the ground we would not be able to walk.
 Friction is needed to make knots work.
 Friction enables the brakes of car
cars to work.
 Friction is also used in the clutch of a car.
 Without friction the wheels of a car would just spin and the car would not be able
to go around a corner.
 Air Friction slows down the parachute.

Friction With The Road

The friction between the wheels of a car and the road produce a sideways force which

enable the car to change its velocity. This happens when the wheels are turned.

This change in velocity is a change in direction. The car goes around the corner.

The Parachute

Air resistance increasess with the speed of an object.

When the air resistance equals the weight the parachutist

will not fall any faster.

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Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

1. Unbalanced Forces

If resultant force is acting on an object, then it will accelerate. When a car starts

moving, the thrust from the engine is much greater than the air resistance. The car

accelerates. The faster the car moves, the greater air resistance acts.

When the air resistance equals the thrust the car reaches its maximum speed. Why?
2. Balanced Forces

When two or more than two forces are acting on a body causing no resultant force, we

say that the forces are balanced.

If the resultant force acting on an object is zero, then it is said to be in equilibrium.

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Activity

The image below shows a plane flying at a constant speed of 1000km/h at an altitude of

25000m

The forces acting on the plane are shown

1. Identify the 4 forces acting on a plane

2. The plane is maintaining the same altitude. Explain how this is achieved.
3. Explain how this plane maintains flying at a constant speed.
4. What can the pilot to do to;

a. Increase the altitude at which the plane is flying

b. Reduce the flying speed of the plane
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Measuring Forces

The instrument which is used to measure the weight is called spring-balance or Newton-

meter.

A mass of 1 kg on our planet Earth, weighs almost 10 N.

A mass of 2 kg weighs 20 N.

A mass of 3 kg weighs 30 N and so on.

Measuring Forces

Weight of a body varies place to place and becomes zero on the centre of the

Earth and far away from the surface of the Earth. The S.I. Unit of weight is

newtons, denoted by N.
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Hooke's Law

If a spring or wire which is fixed at one end is stretched by hanging a load to the other

end, then Hooke's law can be defined as:

The stretching force applied on an elastic body is directly

proportional to the extension if the elastic limit is not exceeded.

𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒, 𝐹 ∝ 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑋

𝐹 ∝𝑋

𝐹 = 𝑘𝑋

Here k is constant, known as spring constant. Its value is different for different

materials.
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Experiment

Set up the retort stand, bosses, clamps, half metre ruler, elastic spring and loads as

shown in the following arrangement.

A simple experiment with loads and spring can be performed in the physics laboratory.
Procedure

1. The original
inal length of the spring is measured with help of the ruler.
2. A load is added in the hanger.
3. The extension is measured. The extension is the increase in length compared to
the original length of the spring.
4. Extension = stretched length – unstretched length
5. The experiment is repeated for a range of loads.
6. All results must be recorded in an appropriate table.
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Results And Analysis

Graph between extension and force is plotted. Graph of extension against load is a

straight line through the origin within elastic limit, and then it starts bending.

Elastic Limit

A spring or a string is said to behave elastically if once the load is removed, the spring

returns to its original length. So elastic limit can also be defined as:

"The maximum force

rce that can be applied to a spring without producing a

permanent deformation in its shape is known as the elastic limit"

The spring given in figure 1 obeys Hooke's Law because the extension is directly

proportional to the load till elastic limit.

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Inelastic Behaviour

If the spring is permanently deformed by adding the load, then it will not return to its

original size and shape when the load is removed. Hooke's Law is not obeyed in this

case. Inelastic behaviour of the material is shown on the graph in figure 2 between point

A and B.
Test Yourself
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Next …….
Speed, velocity and acceleration