KS3 Physics

9K Speeding Up

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 Contents

9K Speeding Up

Distance, time and speed

Balanced and unbalanced forces

Friction

Summary activities

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 Distance, time and speed
To work out the speed of an object you need to know:
 the distance travelled;
 how long it took to travel that distance.

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 Calculating average speed
Average speed is calculated using this equation:

total distance d
average speed =
total time
s x t
formula triangle
Speed can be measured in different units,
e.g. m/s, km/h, km/s, miles per hour.
The units of distance and time used will give the units
to be used for speed.

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 Speed formula triangle

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 Speed calculation example

A boy takes 1 hour to travel from his home to the cinema,

a distance of 10 km. Calculate his average speed in km/h.

average speed d (distance in km)

(in km/h) =
t (time in h)
d
10 km
=
1h
s x t
= 10 km/h
Cover the quantity to be
calculated - s (speed)

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 Speed calculation example – units check
Sometimes the units have to be changed in a speed
calculation. Here is the same problem but with different units:

A boy takes 1 hour to travel from his home to the cinema,

a distance of 10 km. Calculate his average speed in m/s.

average speed d (distance in m)

(in m/s) =
d t (time in s)
10,000 m
= 1x60x60
s x t 3600 s

Cover the quantity to be = 2.8 m/s

calculated - s (speed)

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 Speed calculation – question 1

Question 1
A group set off from home and walk at an average speed
of 3.6 km/h. How far would they travel in two hours?
Give your answer in km.

distance (km) = speed (km/h) x time (h)

d = 3.6 km/h x 2 h

= 7.2 km
s x t

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 Speed calculation – question 1

Question 1
How long would it take a woman to walk 10 km if
her average speed is 5.4 km/h ?

distance
time =
speed

d =
10 km
5.4 km/h
s x t
= 1.85 hours

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 Car graphing activity – instructions
This graphing experiment shows an animation of a car
travelling along a straight road.

1. Copy the results table shown on the next slide and

complete it as the movie is played.

2. Record the distance the car has travelled every five

seconds.

3. Plot a graph of your results.

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 Car graphing activity – results table layout
Results table for Time/seconds Distance/metres
distance/time 0
graph
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
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 Car graphing activity – animation

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 Car graphing activity – results table
Results table for Time/seconds Distance/metres
distance/time 0 0
graph
5 16
10 76
15 186
20 234
25 484
30 634
35 784
40 904
45 974
50 994
55 994
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 Car graphing activity – results graph

1200

Distance / Time graph for car

1000
Distance / metres

800

600

400

200
Time / seconds
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

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 Car graphing activity – results graph

1200

Distance / Time graph for car

1000
Distance / metres

800

600

400

200
Time / seconds

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

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 Car graphing activity – results graph analysis

1200

Distance / Time graph for car

1000
Distance / metres

800

600

400

200
Time / seconds

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

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 Gradient of a distance/time graph
The speed of the car can be calculated by looking at the
gradient of the distance/time graph.

Speed is “Distance Travelled divided by Time Taken”

These values can be read off the distance/time graph at

different points, and this is the same as the gradient of
the graph.

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 Gradient of a distance/time graph
Consider the gradient of this graph at the point shown by
the two arrows in a triangle:
1200

Distance / Time graph for car

1000
Distance / metres

800

600

400

200
Time / seconds

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
The car has travelled from 200m to 800m = 600m.
It took from 16s to 36s to travel this distance = 20s.
So the speed at this point = 600m/20s = 30m/s.
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 Speed experiment – instructions
1. Time how long it takes you to run 100m.
2. Then calculate your average speed for the run.

total distance
average speed =
total time

3. Repeat the experiment for each member of your group.

4. What was the fastest average speed for your group?

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 Speed experiment – results

Name distance (m) time (s) average

speed (m/s)
100
100
100
100
100

Conclusion
The fastest member of the group with an average speed
of ________ was __________.

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 Contents

9K Speeding Up

Distance, time and speed

Balanced and unbalanced forces

Friction

Summary activities

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 What is a force?
A force is a push or a pull. A force cannot be seen but you
can see how a force affects an object.

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 Balanced and unbalanced forces
Think of a car travelling at a constant speed of 50 mph.
The engine provides sufficient force to just overcome all
the frictional forces that are acting to decrease the speed.

50 mph
500 N 500 N

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 Balanced and unbalanced forces
A crosswind acting on the car produces a sideways force.

50 mph

cross-
wind

The crosswind causes the direction of the car to change

– this happens because the sideways forces on the car
are not balanced.
If the car turns right so that the wind is now behind the
car, what will happen to the speed?

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 Balanced and unbalanced forces
The air resistance will decrease because the car has a “tail
wind” (it is being blown from behind). This means the forces
acting on the car are no longer balanced.

>50 mph
500 N 400 N

The car will increase in speed (accelerate) until the forces are
balanced again.

60 mph
500 N 500 N

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 Balanced and unbalanced forces – summary

If the forces on an object are balanced:

 If the object is stopped, it will remain stopped.

 If the object is moving, then it will continue to

move at the same speed and in a straight line.
In other words, the object will continue to do what it is
already doing without any change.

If the forces are unbalanced two things can happen:

 The speed will change.
 The direction of motion will change.
This is called acceleration.

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 Resultant force
The sum effect of more than one force is called the
resultant force.
The resultant force is calculated by working out the
difference between opposing forces.

A resultant force of 100 N

is accelerating the car.

100 N

500 N 400 N

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 Resultant force – question 1
1. What is the resultant force on the block?

5N 5N

Resultant force = 20N –10N

= 10N down
The block will accelerate
downwards.

20N 10N

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 Resultant force – question 2
2. What is the resultant force on the block?
5N

5N 5N

Resultant force = 5N – 0N
= 5N right
5N The vertical forces are equal in size
and opposite in direction so there is no
resultant force in the vertical direction.
The block will accelerate to the right.

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 Resultant forces – question 3
3. What is the resultant force on the block?
7N
3N
10N
20N 17N
13N
Resultant force = (20N +10N) – 13N
= 17N right
10N
The vertical forces are equal in size and
opposite in direction so there is no
resultant force in the vertical direction.
The block will accelerate to the right.

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 Resultant force activity

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 Contents

9K Speeding Up

Distance, time and speed

Balanced and unbalanced forces

Friction

Summary activities

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 Friction
Friction always tries to slow moving object down
– it opposes motion.
Friction is created whenever two touching objects or
surfaces move past each other.
Friction also occurs when things move through air.
This is called air resistance or drag.

(The size of the frictional force equals the applied force

unless the applied force is bigger than the maximum
value of the frictional force. If this is the case then the
frictional force remains at the maximum possible value.)

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 What are the sources of friction?
Label all sources of friction that can act on this bike.
brake pad
and rim
pedal bearing
wheel
bearing wheel bearing

air
Oneresistance or “drag”
more? Probably
the most important…

links in chain
tyre and road
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 Air resistance and drag
Air resistance is a type of friction caused when objects
move through the air.

Cars are designed so that they are streamlined. The flow of

air around the body is made as smooth as possible so that
air resistance is minimized.

Air resistance depends on:

 the size of the car;
400 N
 the shape of the car;
 the speed of the car.

300 N

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 Other sources of friction in cars
One of the most important
sources of friction in cars
is that between the tyres
and the road.

When the car brakes, the maximum possible amount of

friction is desirable so that the car does not skid.

The friction between the tyres and the road is affected by the:
 inflation pressure of the tyres;
 road surface;
 surface condition caused by the weather (rain, ice, etc).

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 Effects of frictional forces

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 Contents

9K Speeding Up

Distance, time and speed

Balanced and unbalanced forces

Friction

Summary activities

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 Glossary
 acceleration – A change in speed.
 air resistance – A frictional force that acts against an object
moving through air.
 balanced forces – Forces acting on an object that do
not change its speed or direction.
 drag – A frictional force, such as air resistance or water
resistance, which slows down a moving object.
 friction – A force that occurs when two things rub against
each other and so slows down a moving object.
 speed – How quickly an object is moving. It equals the
distance moved divided by the time taken, often measured in
‘metres per second’ (m/s).
 streamlined – A smooth shape which reduces drag.
 unbalanced forces – Forces acting on an object that
change its speed or direction.
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 Anagrams

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 Multiple-choice quiz

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