Forces

What are forces?

Inertia
Gravity
Newtons Laws

Key Points of the

Lesson
-Understand that
unbalanced forces
cause changes in motion (acceleration)
-Understand Newtons Laws of Motion
- Understand how to draw and read a
free body diagram
-Use Newtons Laws to calculate
problems involving forces in one or two
dimensions

Forces Vocabulary
Force
Inertia
Gravity
Orbit
Mass
Newtons Laws
Free Body Diagram

What is a force?
A

push or a pull
May be unbalanced or balanced

What does a force do?

Gives

energy to
an object
Can set an
object in
motion, make it
stop, or change
its motion

Unbalanced forces change

motion

Unbalanced forces change

motion

Unbalanced forces change

motion

Forces are represented by

vectors

Forces are added with

vectors

Friction
A

force which opposes motion,

bringing objects to rest
Types:

Inertia
The

tendency
of an object to
stay at rest or
in motion.
Objects with
greater mass
have greater
inertia

Inertia keeps astronauts in

motion

Seat belts protect against

inertia

Gravity
The attractive
force between
all objects in the
universe

F = M1 M2
d2
More

mass means greater gravity

More distance means less gravity

Massive objects have

lots of gravity

My gravitational
attraction is small
no matter what the
distance!

The earth exerts a force on the student

and the student
exerts a force
on the earth
because
of GRAVITY!

Newtons Laws of
Motion
1. Inertia
2. F=ma
3. Action-reaction

Newtons First Law of Motion

The

law of
inertia:
An object at
rest stays at
rest
an object in
motion stays
in motion
unless acted
upon by an
outside force.

Inertia keeps satellites in

orbit

Newtons Second Law of

Motion
Force
A

= Mass x acceleration

force is needed for acceleration

Acceleration will occur in the
direction of the force.

Which cars are

accelerating?

If

you watch carefully, the green and

blue cars are accelerating. The red
car is traveling at constant speed.

Newtons 2

Force = mass x acceleration

nd

Law

F_____
M
A
Force is measured in newtons. A newton
is a
kg m
s2

Example:

A car with mass 1000kg hits

a tree and decelerates at 50m/s/s.
What force does it exert on the tree?

Answer:
F_____
M A
1000kg * 50m/s/s =
50,000 kgm or 50,000N
s2

F = ma
A

car is traveling at constant speed.

Is a force acting on it?
Answer: although there are forces
acting on the car (gravity, friction, air
resistance,etc) since there is no
acceleration, the net force in the
direction of motion must be zero.

More 2
1.

nd

Law Problems:

What is the acceleration on a

mass of 50kg if a force of 10N is
applied?
2. An object accelerates due to
gravity at a rate of 10m/s/s. If its
mass is 15kg, what force is acting on
the mass?

Answers:
_F_

M A
1. _10N_
0.2 n/kg= 0.2 kg m = 0.2
m/s2
50kg A
s2/kg
2.
F______
15kg 10m/s2
150 kgm/s2 or 150N

Gravity is a force that causes

an acceleration
On

earth, ALL objects accelerate at

9.8m/s2 (ignoring air resistance)
because of gravity.
No matter what the mass, ALL
objects on earth accelerate at 9.8
m/s2

Newtons 2

nd

Law

F__
m a

3.

An object of mass 3kg falls off a

cliff. How much force is acting
on the object?

Answer:
F_______
3kg 9.8 m/s2
29.4N

Free fall without air

resistance
Both the elephant and
the feather land at
the same time!

Free fall with air

resistance
The feather takes
lots longer to hit
the ground!

Newtons Third Law

For

every action, there is an equal

and opposite reaction

For every action, there is an

equal and opposite reaction
In

rocketry

The gases
being expelled
is the action.
The rocket
propelling
forward is the
reaction.

How do Newtons laws describe

the motorcycle rider?
1st:

Inertia keeps the rider moving

forward.
2nd: The force with which the rider hits
the ground will be equal to his mass
times his deceleration.
3rd: The action of hitting the ground
will equal the reaction of the dirt.