3 Forces and energy
3.1 Gravity, weight and mass
Gravity
When you drop an object, it falls to the ground.
What pulls the object down?
The Earth you live on is a large object with a mass of about.
Objects with large mass, such as the Earth, cause strong forces of gravity.
All objects, even pens and pencils, cause forces of gravity, but because they have such small mass, their forces
are very weak. Forces of gravity. That means we do not notice other objects being attracted to them.
The force of gravity caused by an object acts towards the centre of the object.
You can imagine the Earth as a giant ball in space. The force of gravity at positions around the Earth acts
towards the centre. That means when you drop an object it will fall towards Earth. Or, if you were in a line
that points towards the centre of the Earth.
The strength of gravity decreases as you go further from a large object such as Earth. For example, if you
travelled away from Earth in a spacecraft, the force of gravity from the Earth acting on you would get smaller.
Questions
1. The diagram shows the Earth. It is not to scale. A ball is dropped from four different places: A, B, C and D.
Draw arrows to show the direction in which each ball will fall. The first one has been done for you.
2. Use your diagram from question 1 to explain why people who go to the South Pole do not fall off the Earth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Some people think there is no gravity on the Moon. Are they correct? Explain your answer.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Weight
The force of gravity on an object is called its weight.
It is difficult to lift a heavy object because gravity is pulling it towards the centre of the Earth. When you lift
it you are pulling against gravity.
Weight is a force and it is measured in newtons, N. The weight of an apple is about 1 N. That means gravity
from the Earth is pulling on the apple with a force of 1 N. You need to apply a force of 1 N to lift the apple.
The contact force
When a book, with a weight of 5 N, is resting on a desk, gravity is still pulling it down with a force of. So
why is the book not moving down through the desk?
The answer is because the desk is pushing back up on the book with an equal force of.
This force from the desk is called the contact force. The contact force acts up from the desk and has equal
force to the weight pushing down. The contact force is always equal to the weight of the object when the
surfaces is not moving.
Sometimes the weight of the object is larger than the contact force. If this happens, the surface will break, or
the object will sink into the surface.
Question
1. The diagram shows a box on a desk. Copy this diagram.
On your diagram:
a) add an arrow to show the weight of the box. Label this arrow W.
b) add an arrow to show the contact force from the desk. Label this arrow C
2. A large rock rests on the ground. The weight of the rock is 8000 N. Write down the size of the contact force
from the ground.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. An elephant is standing on four feet. The weight of the elephant is 40 000 N. Calculate the contact force
from the ground on each of the elephant's feet.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. A car travels into soft mud. The contact force needed to support each wheel is 24 000 N.
a) At first, the contact force from the mud on each wheel is 2000 N. Explain why the wheels will start to
sink.
____________________________________________________________________________________
b) The contact force from the mud increases with depth. Explain what will happen to stop the wheels
sinking.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Weight and mass
Weight is the force of gravity on an object. It is measured in newtons, N.
Mass is the quantity of matter in an object. It is measured in kilograms, kg.
People often confuse mass with weight. They often say things such as: 'The weight of my bag is 10 kg.' This
sentence is not correct because it makes a statement about weight, but gives a mass. The correct sentence is:
'The mass of my bag is 10 kg.'
On Earth, the force of gravity is 10 N on every 1 kg of mass.
Writing this as an equation: weight (N) = mass (kg) × 10 (N/kg) or, using letters: W = m × 10
You can use a formula triangle for this equation.
The force of gravity that pulls on 1 kg tells you the strength of gravity. On Earth, this is 10 N.
As 10 N acts on 1 kg, you say this as '10 newtons per kilogram', or 10 N/kg. For example, if a person has a
mass of 45 kg, their weight on Earth is 45 × 10 = 450 N.
You can use the equation to calculate mass if you know the weight. For example, a computer games console
has a weight of 28 N. The mass of the console is 28/10 = 2.8 kg.
The strength of gravity is not 10 N/kg in all parts of the Solar System. The diagram shows the strength of
gravity in some other parts of the Solar System.
The weight of an object changes when the strength of gravity changes. If you want to calculate your weight
somewhere other than Earth, you can use the same equation but you must change the number 10 to the value
of the strength of gravity wherever you are calculating it.
The mass of an object does not change.
Questions
1. The strength of gravity is 10 N/kg on Earth.
a) Calculate the weight of an adult who has a mass of 75 kg.
b) Calculate the mass of a car that has a weight of 8500 N.
2. Use the information in the diagram of the planets on the previous page to answer these questions.
a) Give the location where your weight would be greatest.
b) Name the planet where you would have the same weight as on Earth.
c) Calculate the weight of a 25 kg mass on Mars.
d) Explain how your mass on Earth would compare with your mass on Mercury.
4. When you stand on scales you see your mass in kg. Explain whether it is your mass or your weight that
makes the scales work.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. In 1969, a spacecraft carrying people went from the Earth to the Moon. The people explored part of the
Moon. The spacecraft then brought the people back to Earth. Explain why a larger force is needed for a
spacecraft to go from Earth to the Moon than to come back from the Moon to the Earth.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. Draw a table with two columns: one for mass and one for weight. Write the statement in the appropriate
column.
The statements are:
... of an object is affected by the strength of gravity on a planet.
... is measured in newtons, N.
... is measured in kilograms, kg.
... is not affected by gravity.
... of an object decreases as the object moves further away from Earth.
... is the quantity of matter in an object.
... can be measured in grams, g.
... is the force needed to lift an object.
... is equal to the contact force on a level surface that is not moving.
... is the property of a planet that makes it have gravity.
