FORCES P AGE 1

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

 What is a force?
Forces
 How are forces
measured?

 What do forces
do?

 Why do we
need to think of
forces?

 What is meant
by equilibrium?

 How do forces
affect motion?

 What are sca-

lars and vec-
tors?

 What is a cen-
tre of gravity?

 How does the

length of a
spring vary with
force?

 What is the
difference be-
tween a stiff and
a soft material?

 Why is rubber
not used in car
suspensions of
other springs?

 What is a mo-
ment?

 How can a tight

nut be loosened
without apply-
ing too much
force?

GJ ZA HRA , B.ED ( HONS)

 P AGE 2

2.1 What are Forces

A force is something that causes a change in an object’s motion (either
speed or direction). This means that forces causes change, and without
forces, things would not change. Forces can be simply thought of push-
es and pulls and are measured in Newtons, N. One Newton is the force
needed to change the speed of an object of 1 kg by 1m/s.

Forces are represented scientifically as arrows, where the size of the ar-
row in a diagram is usually an indication of the size of the force. Forces
An earthquake is a
are represented as arrows because they are vectors, meaning that they
forceful event and
causes lots of change have both size and direction. Other measurements do not have a direc-
tion (area, volume, length, mass, speed) and are called scalar quantities.

Scalars Vectors
Measurements
that have size
and direction
are called
vectors.

Measurements
that have size
only are called
scalars.
The centre of gravity of some

2.2 Weight and Centre of Gravity

regularly shaped objects

Weight is due to an object’s mass and the pull of gravity of the

planet. As seen earlier, weight can be found using the equation:
W = mg
Objects can be balanced on a point called the centre of gravity.
When balanced, all the weight of the object seems to be concen-
trated at this point. The centre of gravity (cog) is the point from
which all the weight of an object seems to act.
 FORCES P AGE 3

For an irregular object this might be more difficult to

calculate. If an object is hung from one side, it will
equilibrate to a position where its centre of gravity is
directly below the point from which it was hung. Thus,
if an object is hung from more than one spot, different
lines can be drawn to find where they intersect. This
point of intersection is the centre of gravity of the ob-
ject. The steps are as follows:

 Three or more holes are made in the irregularly

shaped object

 The object is hung from a clamp together with a

plumb-line and left to equilibrate

 Two marks along the plumb-line are marked

 A straight line passing through these marks is

drawn using a ruler

 The steps are repeated for at least two more posi-

tions

 The point at which the three lines intersect is the

centre of gravity of the object.

What is meant by the ‘centre of gravity’ of an object?

Practice Exercise 2A

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Mark the centre of gravity of the following regularly shaped objects.

 P AGE 4

2.3 Equilibrium
When an object is not moving we say that it is at rest. At this stage, the forces on
the object are said to be balanced or at equilibrium. There is no resultant force.
Newton’s First
If a large enough force acts on the body it will cause disequilibrium and the object
will start moving with a particular speed and direction (velocity). Law of

Motion states
Once the body is moving with constant velocity in the same direction, it is again in
equilibrium. This means that no resultant force is acting on the body, as can be that the

seen by the fact that there is no change in the body’s velocity. Forces do not cause velocity of an
motion but changes in motion. In this case the backwards forces are provided by object remains
friction (resistance to motion due to physical contact with the ground or other ob- the same
jects) and air resistance or drag (resistance to motion due to gas or liquid particles
unless acted
through which the object is moving). This can be summarized in Newton’s First
by an
Law of Motion:
external,
An object will remain at rest or moving at constant velocity in a straight line un-
unbalanced
less acted by an external, unbalanced force.
force
If the object starts to slow down, change direction, or accelerate, it means that a
resultant force is acting on the body causing disequilibrium.
It follows that if an object is standing still on the ground, the force of weight is
pushing the object down. However the object does not start to move. This
means that the ground is exerting a force on the object, called the Reaction
Force.
Upthrust, or lift, is the force that pushes objects upwards in fluids (gases of liq-
uids). Liquids exhibit more upthrust than gases, and this is why objects seem to Weight and upthrust for
have less weight in water. an object at equilibrium

The forces acting on a plane. If the opposite forces are equal, the
plane could be either stationary or moving at constant velocity The reaction force on a
runner’s foot
FORCES P AGE 5

Forces and Equilibrium

P R A C T I C E E X E R C I S E 2 B

Answer the following questions

1. Define a scalar and a vector quantity. (3marks)
2. Classify the following quantities as scalars and vectors: (7marks)
 Length
 Time
 Weight
 Acceleration
 Displacement
 Velocity
 Volume
3. A parachutist of mass 75Kg jumps from an air-
plane. At the beginning he starts to accelerate
downwards.
 Calculate and name the force acting on the
parachutist downwards. (2marks)
 After some time, the parachutist stops ac-
celerating and reaches constant speed.
Draw and name the forces acting on the
parachutist at this point in time. (2marks)
 What is the magnitude of the force acting
upwards? (1mark)
4. Determine the tension in each cable in Case A
and Case B shown in the diagram (3marks).
5. The force of gravity varies in different localities on Earth since the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It
is lowest in Mexico where it is 9.779m/s2 and highest in Oslo and Helsinki where it is 9.819m/s2.
Calculate the weight of a person of mass 75Kg at the two localities. (4marks)
6. The force of gravity on the moon is 1.6m/s2. What mass would require a force of 700N to be lift-
ed? (3marks)
 P AGE 6 Name and Surname: ______________________________________________________

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

A. The diagram shows an aeroplane with 4 forces acting on it
1. The aircraft is moving at a steady speed in a straight
line. What is the magnitude of the frictional force
(drag)__________________________________
2 C

2. According to the diagram, which two forces are un-

E X E R C I S E

balanced?
______________________________________
3. What is the magnitude (size) and direction of the resultant force?
______________________________________
P R A C T I C E

B. The diagram shows a hot air balloon with 2 forces acting on it

1. Label the forces on the balloon
2. What is the size and direction of the resultant force acting on the
balloon?
_______________________________________________
3. What is the effect of this unbalanced force?
_______________________________________________
4. The balloon continues to fall until the people inside start to throw
out sand bags. With each bag of mass 12kg, how many bags do they
need to throw out before they stop sinking in the air?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

MARKS
C. The diagram shows a submarine with 4 forces acting on it
1. Label the forces on the submarine.
Question A
1+1+2 2. What happens if the thrust is greater than
/4
the drag?
Question B
2+2+1+3
_________________________________
/8
_________________________________
Question C
4+1+1+2 3. If the buoyancy force is less than the weight,
/8
what happens?
________________________________________________________
Total
/20 4. If the submarine wants to continue to move with a constant velocity at a
given depth, what must happen to all the forces?
________________________________________________________
FORCES P AGE 7

2.4 Hooke’s Law

When a mass is attached to an object, the force downwards pulling the
object might cause it to extend. This is very visible in springs; however it
is also measurable in wires, rods and other objects. Robert Hooke stud-
ied elasticity and in 1678 published his findings that the extension of a
spring is directly proportional to the force causing it given that the
elastic limit is not exceeded.
Cars use helical
springs for shock This means that, if a force of 10N causes a spring to increase in length by
absorption 0.01m, a force of 20N will cause the same spring to increase in length by
0.02m. Thus, if an object obeys Hooke’s Law, a graph of force against
extension should result in a straight line graph passing through the
Hooke’s law origin.
states that the Hooke’s Law can be confirmed by an experiment where the extension of
extension of a
spring is a spring for different forces is measured. These two variables are then
directly plotted. The steps are as follows:
proportional to
 A spring is attached with a clamp
the force
causing it given  A pan is attached to the spring so that weights can be held here
that the elastic  A pointer is also attached to make readings easier (precaution)
limit is not  The original length of the spring together wit the pan and
exceeded
pointer is measured with a ruler (precautions for the ruler must
be applied)
 A weight is attached to the spring and the extension is meas-
ured and recorded. It is very important that the spring is left to
reach equilibrium before measuring the extension (precaution)
 More weights are added and each time the extension is meas-
ured and recorded
 After adding a number of weights, these are removed one by
one and the extension is again measured and recorded. This is
done in order to take multiple readings for the same force
(precaution) without restarting the experiment
 Care must also be taken not to add too much weights since the
spring might be deformed (will not return to its original size)
 A graph of force (y-axis) against extension (x-axis) is plotted

The apparatus for

the experiment to
confirm Hooke’s Law
 P AGE 8

Not all materials extend the same length for a given

force. A material that does not extend a lot is called
a stiff material. In this case, the gradient of the
force-extension graph will be large. A material that
extends a lot for a given force is said to be a soft ma-
terial. In this case, the gradient of the force-
extension graph is small.

Sometimes, objects do not return to their original

shape after being stretched or compressed by a
force. This is because their elastic limit has been
exceeded. The elastic limit of an object is the maxi-
mum stress that can be applied to the object with- The stiffer the material, the larger the gradient of
out permanently changing its shape. Once this limit the Force-Extension graph is, showing a smaller ex-
tension for the same force
is exceeded, the spring will be denatured and will
not return to its original shape. Even if an object can
continue to be extended after its elastic limit has
been exceeded, Hooke’s law is no longer obeyed
after this point and the graph curves. Note that the
elastic limit is not the breaking point, which is the
force needed to break the spring.
Some materials, such as rubber, do not obey
Hooke’s law. This is easily observable from the
graph obtained for the extension of rubber against
force applied. The point marked as ‘failure’ indi-
After exceeding the elastic limit, the object no long-
cates where the material breaks. er obeys Hooke’s Law and the graph is no longer
linear.
The table below was obtained from an experi-
Practice Exercise 2D

ment as described in the previous page. Use

these results to plot a graph of Force (N) against
Extension (m). Does the spring obeys Hooke’s
Law? Calculate the gradient of the graph.
Mass/ kg Length/ m

0 0.13

100 0.30

200 0.46

300 0.62 Rubber does not obey Hooke’s Law and the exten-
sion and the force causing it are not directly propor-
400 0.80 tional
FORCES P AGE 9

Hooke’s Law - Simulation Instructions

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2E

1. Open the site http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/mass-spring-lab/mass-spring-lab_en.html

2. Move the ruler (by dragging) beside spring 1. Align the 0cm mark with the dotted line.
3. Hang the 50g mass with spring 1. Let the spring to equilibrate and measure the extension.
4. Repeat step 3 for the 100 and 250g masses.
5. Copy and complete the table below.

Mass (g) Mass (kg) Weight (N) Extension (cm) Extension (m)
50 0.05 0.5
100
250

6. On a graph paper, plot a graph of Force (N) on the y-axis against Extension (m) on the x-
axis. Remember to use a sharp HB pencil, to label each axis and to name the graph.
7. Find the gradient of the graph and determine its units
8. Set the softness of spring 3 to hard
9. Repeat the experiment (steps 2-7) with spring 3 set to hard. Fill in another table of results
as in step 4 and plot a graph on the same graph paper used in step 6.
10. Calculate the gradient of the hard spring. Compare this value to the one of the soft spring.
What do you note?
11. Still using the hard spring, attach the masses of unknown mass and measure the extension of
the spring. Fill this information in the table below.

Unknowns Extension (cm) Extension (m)

Green
Brown
Red

12. Using the graph plotted in step 9, find the weight of these unknown masses.
13. Would you expect spring 3 to stretch more on the moon? Why? Try it out!

GJ ZA HRA , B.ED ( HONS)

 2.5 Moments
P AGE 10

When a force is not applied on the centre of gravity of an object it

will give rise to a turning effect, which might result in the object to
rotate or twist. The turning effect of a force is called a moment.
Sometimes one is unable to turn a tight nut with a wrench. What
people usually do is attach a pipe to the wrench so that the handle
is lengthened. This is because the moment and distance from the
pivot are directly proportional according to the equation:
For a moment to be
present, a force must M = Fd
be applied at a dis-
M = moment, in Nm
tance from a pivot
F = Force applied perpendicular to pivot, in N
d = distance of force from the pivot, in m
A moment is

2.6 Moments and Equilibrium

the turning
effect of a
force.

At equilibrium, If moments are applied to the same side of the pivot, they will add up to each
the total other. Moments on the other side, however, have an opposite turning effect
clockwise
so they are subtracted. Thus, the direction of a moment must always be
moment equals
the total anti- specified (moments are vector quantities). Moments are said to be either
clockwise clockwise or anticlockwise. For a system to be at equilibrium (no rotational
moment. motion) the total clockwise moment must be equal to the total anticlockwise
moment.
In summary, if we look at the (very complicated) example below:
Total clockwise moment (CM) = (F1*d1) + (F2*d2) + (F3*d3)
Total anticlockwise moment (ACM) = (F4*d4) + (F5*d5)

Maximum and zero

moment on a bicycle
pedal
FORCES P AGE 11

Moments
P R A C T I C E E X E R C I S E 2 F

Solve A, B, C and D for the following systems at equilibrium

 P AGE 12

Moments
P R A C T I C E E X E R C I S E 2 G

Answer the following questions

1. A metre rule is balanced from its centre. A weight of 2N is placed on the right hand side 0.30m
from the pivot. Another weight, W, is placed on the opposite side 0.40m from the pivot in order
to balance the ruler.
 Draw a diagram to show this apparatus.
 Calculate the moment produced by the 2N weight.
 State the principle of moments.
 Calculate the weight, W.
2. The diagram below shows a worker using a lever
of negligible weight to lift a heavy rock of mass
70kg. The object is 0.3m from the fulcrum while
the worker applies force at 1.4m from the pivot.
Calculate the minimum amount of force needed
to life the stone.
3. A uniform metre rule is balanced at the 20cm mark by placing a mass of 200g at the 0cm mark. Cal-
culate the mass of the ruler.
4. The diagram shows a simple machine to lift water from a pond
 Calculate the moment due to the bucket of water
 What is the total anti-clockwise moment if the system is balanced?
 For the system to be balanced, the man exerts a force of 80N. If the beam is uniform, calcu-
late the weight of the beam.
 What is the upward reaction force at the pivot if the system is balanced?