EFFECTS OF FORCES

Effects of forces
• A force is defined as:
• A push or a pull that acts on an object due to the
interaction with another object
• Forces can have a variety of effects on an object
• Forces can change an object's
• speed
• direction
• shape
• size
Effects of forces on different
objects

A thrust force can cause a car to speed up, a gravitational force

can cause a comet to change direction, compression forces can
cause a spring to change shape
• The effects of forces on an object often depend on the
type of force acting
• The push force (thrust) of an engine can cause a car to speed
up, whilst the force exerted by the brakes (friction) can cause
it to slow down
• The gravitational pull of the Sun on a comet causes the comet
to change direction
• When two opposing forces push on each end of a spring, the
spring changes shape (it compresses)
Resultant forces on a straight
line
• What is a resultant force?
• A resultant force is a single force that describes all of
the forces operating on a body
• When multiple forces act on one object, the forces can
be combined to produce one net force that describes
the combined action of all of the forces
• This single resultant force determines:
• The direction in which the object will move as a result of all
of the forces
• The magnitude of the net force experienced by the object
Balanced and unbalanced forces
• The forces acting on an object can be described as balanced or unbalanced
• Forces are balanced if multiple forces act in opposing directions with
an equal magnitude in each direction
• The effects of the forces then cancel out
• There is no resultant force in that plane of direction
• Forces are unbalanced if the effects of the forces acting in each plane
do not cancel out
• There is a resultant force in one or more planes of direction
• A book is at rest on a table
• The gravitational pull of the Earth on the book (weight) acts in a downward direction
• The push force of the table on the book (normal contact force) acts in the upward
direction
• The forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction
• The forces are therefore balanced
• There is no resultant force acting on the book
Zero resultant force on a book
resting on a table
Calculating resultant force
• Force is a vector quantity, it has both magnitude and
direction
• When adding forces together, it is important to assign
positive and negative values to show the direction in
which the forces are acting
• If a 5 N force acts to the right and a 5 N force acts to the
left on an object, then we assign one of the values as
positive and one as negative
• So the resultant force acting on the object is
• The forces acting on the object are equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction; therefore they cancel one
another out
• This is like two people pushing a box with equal force
from opposite sides, the box doesn't move
• If two people push the box from the same side in the
same direction, one with a 3 N force and one with a 7 N
force, then the forces will add together and the box will
move in the direction of the resultant force
• If two people push the box in opposite directions, one
with a 7 N force to the left (negative) and one with a 3 N
force to the right (positive), then the forces will add
together and the box will move in the direction of the
resultant force

•In this case, the box will move to the left with a force of 4 N
Zero and non-zero resultant
forces

Zero and non-zero resultant forces acting on three objects

EXAMPLE
• Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant
force in the diagram below.
• Step 1: Assign a direction to the forces
• Forces acting to the right are positive
• Forces acting to the left are negative
• Step 2: Add together all the forces acting on the object

• Step 3: State the magnitude and direction of the

resultant force
• The resultant force is 2 N to the left
NEWTONS FIRST LAW
• Newton's first law of motion states:
• Objects will remain at rest, or move with a
constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant
force
• This means if the resultant force acting on an object is
zero:
• The object will remain stationary if it was stationary before
• The object will continue to move at the same velocity if it
was moving
• When the resultant force is not zero
• The speed of the object can change
• The direction of the object can change
Objects with Zero Resultant Force

Constant velocity can only be achieved when the forces on an

object are balanced - in other words, when the resultant force
is zero
Examples of Newton's first law
• A mug on a table will remain stationary on the table unless
acted upon by a resultant force
• For example, if someone picks up the mug, or knocks into the table
• A piece of space debris will continue moving in a straight line
at a constant speed unless acted upon by a resultant force
• For example, if it enters the gravitational field of a planet or collides
with an asteroid
• A car travelling in a straight line at a constant speed will
continue to travel in a straight line at a constant speed unless
acted upon my a resultant force
• For example, if the driver brakes or accelerates
EXAMPLE
• A student did some online research and found out that
the Moon orbits the Earth at a constant speed of around
2000 mph.
• The student says that this is not an example of
Newton's first law of motion. Is the student correct?
Explain your answer.
• Step 1: Recall Newton's first law of motion
• Newton's first law of motion states that objects will remain at
rest, or move with a constant velocity, unless acted on by a
resultant force
• Step 2: Determine if the object in the question is at rest, or if
it is moving with a constant velocity
• The Moon, in this case, is not at rest
• It is moving at a constant speed
• But it is not moving in a constant direction - it continually orbits
the Earth
• Hence, it is not moving with a constant velocity, because velocity is
a vector quantity
• Step 3: State and explain whether the student is
correct
• The student is correct
• The Moon moves with a constant speed, but
always changes direction
• So it is not moving with a constant velocity, and
is not an example of Newton's first law of motion
EXAMPLE 2
• A car moves at a constant velocity. The driving force
from the engine is 3 kN.

Determine the frictional force acting on the car.

• Step 1: Recall Newton's first law of motion
• Newton's first law of motion states that objects will
remain at rest, or move with a constant velocity
unless acted on by a resultant force
• Step 2: Relate Newton's first law to the scenario
• Since the car is moving at a constant velocity, there is
no resultant force
• This means the driving and frictional forces are
balanced
• Step 3: State the value of the frictional force
• Frictional force, F = driving force = 3 kN
NEWTONS SECOND LAW
Newton's second law

• Newton's second law of motion states:

• The acceleration of an object is proportional to
the resultant force acting on it and inversely
proportional to the object's mass
• Newton's second law of motion explains what happens
when a non-zero resultant force acts on an object
• A resultant force occurs when the forces acting on an
object are not balanced
• A resultant force acting on an object will cause
a change in the object's motion
• This change in motion is an acceleration:
• Speeding up
• Slowing down
• Changing direction
• If the resultant force on an object is not zero, the object
will accelerate in the direction of the resultant force
• The bigger this resultant force, the larger the
acceleration
• For a given force, the greater the object's mass,
the smaller the acceleration experienced
Examples of Newton's second law

Objects like baseballs and lawnmowers accelerate when a resultant force is

applied on them. The size of the acceleration is proportional to the size of
the resultant force
Calculations using Newton's
second law
• Newton's second law can be expressed as an equation:

• Where:
• F = resultant force on the object, measured in newtons (N)
• m = mass of the object, measured in kilograms (kg)
• a = acceleration of the object, measured in metres per
second squared (m/s2)
• The acceleration occurs in the same direction as
the resultant force
EXAMPLE
• A car salesman says that their best car has a mass of
900 kg and can accelerate from 0 to 27 m/s in 3
seconds.
• Calculate:
• a) the acceleration of the car in the first 3 seconds.
• b) the force required to produce this acceleration.
• Part (a)
• Step 1: List the known quantities
• Initial velocity, v=0 space straight m divided by straight s
• Final velocity, u =27 space straight m divided by straight s
• Time, t =3s
• Step 2: State the equation for acceleration, in
terms of change in velocity
• Part (b)
• Step 1: List the known quantities
• Mass of the car, m= 900kg
• Acceleration, a= 9m/s2
• Step 2: Identify which law of motion to apply
• The question involves quantities
of force, mass and acceleration, so Newton's second
law is required:
• Step 3: Calculate the force required to accelerate
the car
EXAMPLE 3
• Three shopping trolleys, A, B and C, are being pushed
using the same force. This force causes each trolley to
accelerate.

State which trolley would have the smallest acceleration.

Explain your answer.
• Step 1: Identify which law of motion to apply
• The question involves quantities of force and acceleration,
and the image shows trolleys of different masses, so Newton's
second law is required:
• Step 2: Re-arrange the equation to make acceleration
the subject

• Step 3: Explain the inverse proportionality between

acceleration and mass
• Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass
• This means that for the same amount of force,
a large mass will experience a small acceleration
• Therefore, trolley C will have the smallest acceleration because
it has the largest mass