Forces and simple
machines
Learning outcomes
• identify forces acting on an object in static equilibrium (Newton 1)
• identify the two forces acting in a variety of interaction pairs (Newton 3)
• distinguish between weight and mass and recall that W = mg
• explain buoyancy in terms of Archimedes’ principle
• explain levers and gears in terms of forces, distances and work done
• calculate efficiency in these energy transfers and recognise dissipation
• introduce an abstract concept by giving suitable examples
• establish concepts qualitatively (using proportional reasoning) before
introducing quantitative relationships (equations)
• recognise that forces are vector quantities, with magnitude & direction
• correctly use units kilogram and Newton
• convert between units of g/cm3 and kg/m3
Starting points
Prior learning:
What do pupils learn about forces at primary school?
Misconceptions:
What are some common misconceptions about forces?
The idea of forces
Learning at Key Stages 1 and 2 underpins learning at Key Stage 3
6E
4E 5E Forces in
Friction Earth, Sun and action
Moon
2E 3E
Forces and Magnets and
movement springs
1E
Pushes and pulls
Teaching challenges
• You cannot see forces; they are an abstract construction,
especially forces that act at-a-distance.
• The laws of motion are mostly counter-intuitive. Newton himself
struggled for many years to produce the consistent account
given in Principia.
• Newton’s 3rd law: students have difficulty identifying force pairs.
This is not helped by popular shorthand phrases for Newton 3
(e.g. ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’) which
do not make clear what the forces are acting on.
Philosophiæ Naturalis
Principia Mathematica
Axiomata sive Leges Motus
Lex I
Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiscendi vel movendi
uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur
statum illum mutare.
Lex II
Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri
secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.
Lex III
Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem: sive
corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales et in
partes contrarias dirigi.
Law I
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform
motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to
change that state by forces impressed upon it.
Law II
The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the
motive force impressed; and is made in the
direction of the right line in which that force is
impressed.
Law III
To every action there is always opposed an equal
reaction; or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon
each other are always equal, and directed to
contrary parts.
Two categories of forces
Contact forces Forces acting at a distance
• Pushes and pulls • Gravity
• Springs • Electrostatic
• Weights
• Magnetic
• Friction
• Drag
• Upthrust
The four forces of nature
• gravitation
• electromagnetism (electricity, magnetism)
and inside the nucleus…
• strong force
• weak force
Objects in static equilibrium
In pairs:
1. For several objects in the circus:
• identify forces acting (recall W = mg)
• sketch a diagram using arrows to represent these forces
2. Look carefully through SPT Forces episode 1
(physics narrative, teaching and learning issues, teaching
approaches)
3. Discuss and complete the diagnostic questions.
Forces come in pairs
Law 3:
F1on 2 F2 on1
Same kind of force
Same magnitude, but opposite direction
Forces acting on two different objects
Law III, Newton’s examples
Whatever draws or presses another is as much drawn or
pressed by that other. If you press a stone with your finger, the
finger is also pressed by the stone. If a horse draws a stone
tied to a rope, the horse (if I may so say) will be equally drawn
back towards the stone: for the distended rope, by the same
endeavour to relax or unbend itself, will draw the horse as
much towards the stone as it does the stone towards the
horse, and will obstruct the progress of the one as much as it
advances that of the other.
Why don’t you fall through
the floor?
Forces can change the shape of things.
Density
definition mass
density
volume
Units: g/cm3, kg/m3
In pairs:
Choose one experiment or more to carry out.
Discuss the set of questions.
Try these conversions: 10 kg/m3 = g/cm3
1000 g/cm3 = kg/m3
Floating and sinking
Archimedes’ principle: the upthrust acting on a body
immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid
displaced.
[Note that, conversely, the immersed body exerts a downward
force on the liquid.]
Buoyancy explained
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOP3O1KGz4
Simple gadgets and tools
Work done = force x distance moved in direction of the
force
Try measuring input & output forces and distances, then
work out their efficiency.
You might also consider forces involved in human
muscular-skeletal systems.
Endpoints
In small groups:
Review the main ideas.
Sort out anything that is not clear.
Make connections: How might these activities affect
your classroom teaching?
