Force:
• Force is defined as a push or a pull on an object, which changes or tends to
change the state of rest or uniform motion of the object.
• It may lead to a change in the direction or shape of the object.
• Some of the cases which involve force are simple actions like opening a
pencil box/lunch box, kicking a football, lifting a box, pushing a chair etc.
• In all these cases, a push or pull is being exerted on the object to change its
state of motion. Like the closed pencil box is being opened, the football moves
on kicking etc. Unit of force:
Force is represented in the SI units as Newton.
Types of Forces: There are two types of forces based on whether the force
acting on the object is by being in contact with it or not. Further, each of them
can be subdivided according to the type of contact or non-contact force being
applied.
1. Contact Forces: A force that acts on an object when it is in contact with the
body is called a contact force. The point of application of force on the object is
called the point of application of the force or the point of contact. The contact
forces can be categorised as follows:
• Muscular Force: A force that is exerted as the result of the action of the
muscles in our body is termed a muscular force. We use the muscular force to
carry out some of our bodily actions like breathing, digestion etc. The animals
like buffalo, camels or horses use their muscular force to get activities done for
us like ploughing, pulling, or carrying the load.
• Frictional Force: A frictional force is one that opposes the motion of an
object and it always acts in the direction opposite to the motion of the object.
This can be understood when a boat stops moving when we stop rowing. This
is due to the frictional force between the boat and the water.
2. Non-Contact Forces: A force that does not involve any kind of physical
contact between two objects on which they act is called a non-contact force.
The non-contact forces can be categorised as follows:
• Magnetic Force: A force exerted by a magnet on objects made of iron, steel,
cobalt, or nickel without being in contact with them is termed a magnetic
force.
• Electrostatic Force: A force that is exerted by a charged body on another
charged or uncharged body is termed an electrostatic force. It may result in the
repulsion of similar charges like if we bring two straws rubbed with paper
[charged] near each other and attraction of opposite charges if we bring a
charged straw near an uncharged straw.
• Gravitational Force: A force that is exerted by each and every object in the
world on another object which is an attractive force, is termed as gravitational
force.
Pressure:
1. The unit force that acts on the per unit area of a surface is called pressure.
The relationship between pressure and force can be defined as, force Pressure
area on which it acts = F/A
2. It is easy to push a nail into a wooden board with its pointed end instead of
the head as the smaller area exerts a larger pressure for the same amount of
force and the nail goes into the wood easily with one push.
3. The unit of measurement for pressure in the SI system, is Newton per square
metre which is equal to 1 Pascal (Pa).
4. It is seen that fluids and gases also exert pressure like solids.
5. A solid generally exerts pressure in the downward direction only, which is
mostly due to its weight.
6. On the contrary, liquids and gases exert pressure in all directions. It can be
noted that when a water pipe leaks, you can see fountains of water coming in
all directions. This is because the water exerts pressure on the wall of the
pipes. Similarly, when a balloon has holes, the air escapes in all directions. So
this shows that the liquids and gases exert pressure on the walls of their
container
Atmosphere:
1. The thick blanket of air that surrounds the earth above its surface is termed
as atmosphere.
2. The pressure that is exerted by this column of air in the atmosphere is called
atmospheric pressure. It is this pressure that allows a rubber sucker to stay
attached to the surface.
3. We cannot feel this tremendous atmospheric pressure that surrounds us.
This is so because the fluid pressure inside our bodies actually counterbalances
the atmospheric pressure that surrounds us.
