DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, ELECTRONIC CITY
SUBJECT: SCIENCE
DATE:
FORCE AND PRESSURE - HANDOUT
CLASS:8
Force - A push or pull of an object is known as force. The interaction between two
objects arises force. Force has both magnitude and direction. The strength of a force is
expressed in magnitude.
Types of Forces: On the basis of the nature of the interaction between two or more
objects, forces can be classified as:
Contact forces Non-contact forces
These kinds of forces are applied only These kinds of forces are applied when
when two or more objects come in the objects do not come in contact with
contact with each other and yet are
each other. exerting a force upon each other.
Example: Muscular Force, Frictional Example: Magnetic Force, Gravitational
Force Force,
Electrostatic Force
Effects of force :
A force can produce the following effects:
A force can move a stationary object.
It can stop a moving object.
It can change the speed of a moving object.
It can change the direction of a moving object.
It can change the shape and size of an object.
Push - A push is a force exerted away from the body, e.g: kicking a football.
Pull- A pull is a force exerted towards the body, e.g: drawing a bucket of water from a well, playing tug
of war.
Net force
The resultant of all the forces acting on a body is known as net force.
The acceleration of the body is along the direction of the net force.
CONTACT FORCES
1. Muscular Force
The force applied by the action of muscles is called muscular force.
Human beings and animals use muscular force to walk.
The expansion and contraction of lungs is because of muscular force.
Movement of food along food pipe
2. Frictional Force
It is the force that is exerted by the surface over an object whenever the object moves on the
surface.
Force of friction has the following characteristics:
The force of friction always acts in the opposite direction of the motion of the object.
It leads to generation of heat as two surfaces come in contact with each other. For
example, when we rub our hands together, heat is produced as a result of friction
between our hands.
Frictional force also leads to wear and tear of the surfaces of objects that come in
contact with each other. For example, sole of shoes often gets worn-out due to friction
force that acts between them and the ground as we walk.
3. Air Resistance
Whenever an object moves or flies in the air, it experiences a force called air resistance
NON
NON CONTACT FORCES
Magnetic Force
The force exerted by any magnetic object is called magnetic force.
We know that, like magnetic poles always repel each other, that is, they push each
other away.
Also, opposite magnetic poles always attract each other, that is, they pull each other
towards themselves.
2. Electrostatic Force
The force exerted by a charged particle is called electrostatic force.
We know that like charges always repel or push each other away.
Similarly, opposite charges always attract or pull each other towards themselves.
3. Gravitational force
It is an attractive force that is applied by the earth on all the objects.
It is also called the force of gravity or gravity that acts upon all the objects that are
present on or near the Earth's surface.
Gravity is a property exhibited by every object present in the universe and not only the
earth. Hence, all the planets, the moons and even the sun have a gravitational force of
their own.
4. Nuclear forces
The nuclear force acts between all the particles in the nucleus. i.e., between two neutrons,
between two protons and between a neutron and a proton.
It is an attractive force in all cases.
It is the force that keeps the nucleus intact by overcoming the enormous repulsive force between
positive protons.
Distribution of pressure
Force acting on a smaller area applies more pressure than the same force acting on a larger area.
A sharp knife cuts better as more pressure is exerted over a smaller area.
Everyday Observations on the basis of pressure:
1. A needle has a pointed end that has a very small surface area. Hence when a large force is
exerted upon the needle with a hammer the pressure on the needle increases and it easily
moves inside the wall.
2. Shoulder bags always have broad straps rather than thin straps in order to minimize the
pressure that would be exerted on the shoulders of the career due to the gravitational force
acting upon the bag.
3. Tools that are used for cutting and piercing always have sharp edges because as a person
would apply a force on the tool, its sharp edges would exert more pressure due to less
surface area and the object wood cut down easily.
4. The two tyres of a tractor are wider because it minimizes the pressure exerted by the
tractor on the ground. As a result, it becomes easier to move the tractor on a muddy field.
5. Camel can walk easily over the sand because it has wide feet which allow them to walk
on sand easily. Human beings, on the other hand, cannot as walk easily on sand as their
feet have less surface area and therefore our feet sink in the sand.
6. Porters place a round cloth on their heads to increase surface area and reduce pressure.
7. Dams have a wide base. The reason is that the pressure exerted by a liquid increase with its
depth. Thus, as the depth increases, more pressure is exerted by water on the wall of the dam. A
thicker wall is required to withstand greater pressure therefore the thickness of the dam increases
towards the bottom.
Gases also exert pressure on the walls of the container. The molecules of a gas of higher
kinetic energy collide with walls applying large force, and as a result these molecules
apply pressure on the walls of the container.
Upthrust -The upward force exerted by a fluid on an object is known as upthrust or buoyant
force.
Atmospheric Pressure:
The layer of air above the earth is called atmosphere. The air present in the atmosphere
exerts a pressure on the earth which is called atmospheric pressure.
The value of atmospheric pressure at the sea level is 101325 Pascal. Though the SI unit
of pressure is Pascal, the atmospheric pressure is usually measured in the units of
‘millimetres of mercury’. The atmospheric pressure at sea level is760 mm of mercury.
The atmospheric pressure keeps on increasing as we move towards the Earth’s surface.
So the atmospheric pressure on the top of a high mountain will be much lesser than at
its base.
Our body and atmospheric pressure:
The amount of atmospheric pressure upon us is quite large due to the large surface area
of the atmosphere around the earth but we do not experience any of its effects.
o This is so because the pressure of the air inside our body is equal to the
atmospheric pressure. There are also fluids present in our body that exert a
pressure inside our body. Hence, our bodies easily obtain a balance with the
atmospheric pressure.
However sometimes at higher altitudes where the atmospheric pressure is low as
compared to that at the Earth’s surface (low altitudes), nose bleeding occurs.
o This is so because at that time the blood pressure in our body becomes higher
than the atmospheric pressure outside us.
Applications of atmospheric pressure in everyday life :
Drinking Straw
A drinking straw is used by creating suction with the mouth. This causes a decrease in air pressure inside
the straw. Since pressure acting on the surface of the drink is equal to atmospheric pressure, so this
greater pressure pushes the soft drink up the straw into the mouth.
Syringe
The syringe works on the existence of atmospheric pressure. When the nozzle of a syringe is dipped in a
liquid and its piston is withdrawn, the pressure inside the syringe is lower. The greater atmospheric
pressure acting on the surface of the liquid pushes the liquid up into the syringe.
Dropper
When we press the bulb of dropper with its nozzle kept in water, air in the dropper is seen to escape in the
form of bubbles. Once we release the pressure on the bulb, water gets filled in the dropper. The rise of water in
the dropper is due to atmospheric pressure.
Pressure exerted by liquids and gases(fluids)
Liquids exert a pressure on the walls of the container in which they are put in.
The pressure that a liquid exerts on the bottom of the container is dependent upon
the height of the liquid in the container.
The liquid exerts equal pressure on different points on the walls of the
container having the same depth.
Pressure and Thrust
Pressure: Force acting per unit area is known as pressure.
P = F/A
‘P’ is pressure
‘F’ represents Force and
‘A’ represents Area.
SI unit is Pascal or Pa.
1 Pa = 1 N/m2
Thrust: The force that acts on a surface in a direction perpendicular to it, is known as thrust.
SI unit is Newton or N
CGS unit of force & pressure
The CGS unit of force is the dyne (dyn). It is defined as the force required to accelerate a mass of
one gram by one centimeter per second squared (1 g⋅cm/s²). One dyne is equal to 10⁻⁵ N.
The CGS unit of pressure is the barye (Ba), which is equivalent to 1 dyne per square
centimeter (dyn/cm²). The barye is equal to 0.1 Pascal (Pa).
Numerical
Q1- A force of 100 N is applied on an area of 4 m2. Compute pressure being applied on the area.
Answer: Given: Force = 100 N, Area = 4 m2
∴ Pressure = Force / Area =100/4 = 25 Pa
Q2-A force of 500 N is applied on an area 50 cm2. Compute pressure being applied on the area.
Answer: Given: Force applied by box = 500 N,
area A = 50 cm2 = 50 /100×100m2 = 0.005 m2
Pressure P = F/A
= 50/0.005
= 1,00,000 N/m2
= 1,00,000 Pa
Q3- The pressure of a gas contained in a cylinder with a movable piston is 300 Pa. The area of the piston
is 0.5 m2. Calculate the force that is exerted on the piston.
Answer: Given P= 300 Pa, Area = 0.5 m2
P=F/A
F=PA
F = 300 X 0.5
F = 150 N
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