11A Force and Motion

1.1 kilogram (kg), metre (m), metre/second (m/s), metre/second2 (m/s2), newton (N), second (s),
newton per kilogram (N/kg), kilogram metre/second (kg m/s).
1.9 describe the effects of forces between bodies such as changes in speed, shape or direction
1.10 identify different types of force such as gravitational or electrostatic
1.11 distinguish between vector and scalar quantities
1.12 understand that force is a vector quantity
1.13 find the resultant force of forces that act along a line
1.14 understand that friction is a force that opposes motion
1.15 know and use the relationship between unbalanced force, mass and acceleration:
force = mass × acceleration
F=m×a
1.16 know and use the relationship between weight, mass and g:
weight = mass × g
W=m×g
1.17 describe the forces acting on falling objects and explain why falling objects reach a terminal velocity
1.18 describe experiments to investigate the forces acting on falling objects, such as sycamore seeds or parachutes
1.19 describe the factors affecting vehicle stopping distance including speed, mass, road condition and
reaction time

Forces

Forces are pushes, pulls, or twists. In this section we will only think about pushes and pulls. Some key
concepts in forces are essential to understand before we explain the effects of forces.

A force is a push or a pull.

A force can cause an object to: speed up, slow down, change direction, change shape.
Force is measured in newtons (N).
Force is measured with a newtonmeter.

Some types of force

1. Gravitational
This is the attractive force exerted between bodies because of their
masses.
This force increases if either or both of the masses is increased and
decreases if they are moved further apart.

Weight is the gravitational force of the Earth on an object.

2. Normal reaction or contact

This is the repulsive force that stops two touching bodies moving into each
other.

The word ’normal’ means that this force acts at 90° to the surfaces of the
bodies. It is caused by repulsive molecular forces.

3. Friction
This is the force that opposes motion.
The kinetic energy of the moving object is converted to heat energy by the
force of friction.

4. Air resistance or drag

This is the force that opposes the movement of objects through air. Drag is
a more general term used for the opposition force in any gas or liquid.
Objects are often streamlined to reduce this force.
5. Upthrust
This is the force experienced by objects when they are placed into a fluid (liquid or gas).
An object will float on a liquid if the upthrust force equals its weight.

6. Magnetic
Between magnets but also the force that allows electric motors to work.

7. Electrostatic
Attractive and repulsive forces due to bodies being charged.

Vectors and Scalars

All physical quantities (e.g. speed and force) are described by a magnitude and a unit.

SCALARS are physical quantities that are described by magnitude (size) only.
examples: distance, speed, mass, work, energy.

VECTORS are physical quantities that are described by magnitude (size) and direction.
examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force.

Vector Scalar Unit

Displacement Distance Metres (m)
Velocity Speed Metres per second (m/s)
Acceleration Metres per second2 (m/s)
Momentum Newton seconds (Ns)
Force Newtons (N)
Work , Energy Joules (J)
Voltage Volts (V)
Temperature Degrees Celsius (oC), Kelvin (K)
Frequency Hertz (Hz)

Representing Vectors

A vector can be represented on paper by an arrow drawn to scale.

Tail Head

The arrow indicates the direction and the length of the line is proportional to the magnitude.

Addition of Vectors

Resultant force

A number of forces acting on a body may be replaced by a single force which has the same effect on the body as
the original forces all acting together. When the original forces are drawn head-to-tail the overall force, called the
resultant force is drawn from the tail of the first force to the head of the last.

If the force vectors of 4N and 6N

are in the same direction, they
simply add together.
 If the vectors are in opposite
directions, we subtract. We can
see that the resultant is now just 2
N.

The Difference between weight and mass

Weight is a force measured in Newtons – It is the force that the earth (or a planet) exerts on an object. It always
acts towards the centre of the earth. It depends on gravity and can change if an object is taken to another planet.
Mass is measured in kilograms – it is the amount of matter in an object. This always remains constant no matter
what planet the object is on.

Newton’s laws

Newton’s First Law states: Every object continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line,
unless it is compelled to change that state by an external force acting on it. This is also known as the law of
Inertia (Inertia is that property of a body that resists a change in motion)

A car will maintain a constant speed if

the drive force and the drag are
balanced. The total (resultant) force
is zero.

Balanced Forces
When forces are balanced, they are of equal size,
but opposite in direction.

Note that this does NOT mean there is no force.

When forces are balanced, it means that:

 If an object is stationary, it will continue to be stationary. If you are sitting on a chair, your weight is
balanced by an upwards force from the chair.
 If an object is moving, it will move at constant speed. If you are pedalling a bicycle at a constant speed,
the force you put into the pedals is balanced by the air resistance and friction.
This explains why a car has a maximum speed. The engine has only a limited force it can provide. Eventually
the air resistance (and the friction) balance out the force the engine can provide, and the car cannot go any faster.

Newton's Second Law states: If an unbalanced or resultant force acts on an object then the object will
accelerate in the direction of the resultant force and the acceleration will be directly proportional to the
resultant force and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

Thus Resultant Force = mass x acceleration

 Force in N, Fres = ma
 Mass in kg,
 Acceleration in m/s.

Acceleration is always caused by a resultant force, the vector sum of all the forces, also known as the
unbalanced force. The acceleration is always, without exception, in the same direction as the resultant force.

Unbalanced Forces
If the forces are in the same direction, they add up to make a resultant force. In this picture the resultant force is
shown in black:
 If the forces are in opposite directions they take
away. The resultant is in the direction of the
bigger of the two forces.

Note that in this case the bigger force is from right to

left, so the resultant force is from right to left.

These forces are unbalanced; one is bigger than the

other. Wherever there are unbalanced forces on an object, the object will move (accelerate) in the direction of
the bigger force.

 If the object is stationary, it will accelerate. Therefore it will move.

 If the object is moving at a constant speed, it will accelerate to a higher speed.

Newton’s Third law states that: If body A exerts a force on body B, body B must exert an equal and
opposite force on body A. (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction)

Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative magnitude and direction of all forces acting upon an
object in a given situation. Table on book
(reaction force)

Free Body diagram for a book on a table:

Forces always act in pairs (sometimes called Newton III pairs). Earth on book
This is true whether the forces are in equilibrium, moving, stationary (weight)
or accelerating The following diagram shows the Newton III pairs
for the free body diagram of the book:
Table on book
It is important to remember that an object (reaction force)
will only start moving or accelerate if the
forces acting on it (ie in the free body
diagram) are unbalanced. Book on table
Book on Earth
Weight
Earth on book
It is important to know the difference (weight)
between weight and mass.
 Mass is the amount of material in an object. It is measured in kilograms.
 Weight is the force on a mass due to gravity. It is measured in Newtons.
 Weight is a force and is measured in Newtons.

weight (N) = mass (kg) × gravitational field strength (N/kg)

W = mg

On the Earth g, the gravitational field strength is 9.81 N/kg. At IGCSE we quote g as 10 N/kg. The
gravitational field strength is also the acceleration due to gravity, 10 m/s2.

1 kg = 10 N

Gravity makes objects accelerate. All objects accelerate towards the Earth at 10 m/s2, regardless of their mass.
A canon-ball and a watermelon dropped together at the same time will fall together.
 Force and Acceleration
Canon
We have said that if there is an unbalanced force, then
there is acceleration. Remember that acceleration can be
Watermelon negative as well as positive. This means that a force
applied to a moving object can make the object slow
down instead of speeding up.

Terminal Speed

If you drop a ball bearing through thick treacly (viscous)

oil, you will see that the ball bearing falls slowly at a
constant speed. It does not change speed. This is
because the weight downwards is balanced by the
upwards drag force. This constant speed is called
terminal speed. It is encountered whenever objects fall
through fluids (liquids or gases).

Air is a fluid because it's a gas. So a feather falling

through air will have a terminal speed of 10 cm/s. A sky diver falling through air has a terminal speed of about
60 m/s (about 230 km/h). If he hit the ground at that speed, he would be killed. To reduce the terminal speed he
opens a parachute which increases the surface area (and the drag) which slows him down to about 5 m/s.
Think about a sky divers jumping from a plane:

Initially the velocity of the skydiver is 0 m/s

and the weight of the skydiver causes her to
accelerate down at 10 m/s2. The weight is
the resultant force on the skydiver. As the
skydiver speeds up, the upward air friction
(drag) increases, causing a reduction in the
downward resultant force and thus the
acceleration of the skydiver. The skydiver
is still increasing in downward velocity
but not as rapidly as before.
The drag increases until it is
equal in magnitude to the
weight of the skydiver.
Then the drag (upwards force)
balances the downward
force (weight).
Therefore there is
no acceleration
and the velocity
is constant.

This is terminal
velocity.
A speed time graph of a parachutist would look like this:

Speed
(m/s)

60

45

30

15

10 20 30 40 50 Time
Applying the Brakes

Brakes slow a car down by making extra friction, which is in the opposite direction to the movement of the car.
The acceleration is in the opposite direction of the motion (velocity).

The greater the speed, the bigger the braking force that is needed to stop a car in the same distance. If you are
driving at 50 km/h, it only needs a light force on the pedal to stop the car in 100 m. If you are driving at 100
km/h it would need a much bigger braking force to stop the car within 100 m.

When you have to stop really quickly, for example a child runs out in the road in front of you, a significant
proportion of the stopping distance is taken up with the "thinking distance". There is a reaction time while you
see the emergency, realise there is an emergency, and then put your foot on the brake. During this time, the car is
still travelling at the original speed.

Driver Driver Car

sees applies stops
dog brakes

Thinking distance Braking distance

(Affected by driver) (Affected by car and road)

Stopping distance

The thinking distance will increase if:

 The driver loses concentration (mobile, talking, tired...);
 The driver has drunk alcohol or taken drugs;
 The car is driving too fast.
 The braking distance will increase if:
 The car is in poor condition, especially if the tyres are worn down;
 The road is wet, icy or greasy as this reduces friction.
 The car is driving too fast.

thinking distance + braking distance = stopping distance

Speed Speed
(m/s) (m/s)
Thinking Sober driver

20 20 Drunk driver

Braking distance

10 10

1.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 3.0

Reaction