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Forces
infoWhy this? This unit helps pupils explain motion and interaction through ideas such as resultant force, acceleration, braking, momentum and pressure, making sense of movement in everyday and engineered systems.
scheduleWhy now? It comes after energy so pupils can connect changes in motion to work done, transfers of energy and mechanical systems.
neurologyYou need to know
- A scalar quantity has magnitude only, whereas a vector quantity has both magnitude and direction.
- Examples of scalar quantities include mass, time, distance, speed, energy and temperature.
- Examples of vector quantities include force, weight, displacement, velocity, acceleration and momentum.
- A force is a push or pull on an object caused by interaction with another object or field.
- Forces can change an object’s speed, direction of motion, or shape.
- Contact forces require physical contact between objects, such as friction, air resistance, tension and normal contact force.
- Non-contact forces act without physical contact, such as gravitational force, electrostatic force and magnetic force.
- Weight is the gravitational force acting on an object, it acts downwards towards the centre of the Earth, and is calculated using `W = mg`.
- Work is done when a force causes an object to move through a distance in the direction of the force.
- Work done is calculated using `W = Fs`, where work done is in joules, force is in newtons and distance is in metres.
- One joule is the work done when a force of 1 newton moves an object 1 metre in the direction of the force.
- When work is done against friction, energy is transferred to the thermal store of the objects and their temperature increases.
- More than one force is needed to stretch, bend or compress an object because deformation requires forces acting in different directions on different parts of the object.
- Elastic deformation happens when an object returns to its original shape after the force is removed; inelastic deformation happens when it does not return to its original shape.
- For a spring within its limit of proportionality, extension is directly proportional to force and follows Hooke’s law, `F = ke`.
- The work done in stretching or compressing a spring is equal to the elastic potential energy stored and is calculated using `E = \frac{1}{2}ke^2`.
- Distance is the total length travelled and is a scalar, whereas displacement is the straight-line distance from start to finish in a stated direction and is a vector.
- Speed is the rate of change of distance and is a scalar, whereas velocity is the rate of change of displacement and is a vector.
- Typical speeds are about 1.5 m/s for walking, 3 m/s for running, 6 m/s for cycling, 13 m/s for urban car travel, 25 m/s for motorway car travel and 330 m/s for sound in air.
- Newton’s laws state that objects remain at rest or at constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant force, acceleration is proportional to resultant force and inversely proportional to mass, and every force has an equal and opposite force of the same type on another object.
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Represent vector quantities using arrows where the arrow length shows magnitude and the arrow direction shows direction.
- Calculate the resultant of multiple vectors by adding vectors in the same direction and subtracting vectors in opposite directions, or by using a scale vector diagram for angled vectors.
- Calculate weight using `W = mg`, selecting the correct gravitational field strength and giving the answer in newtons.
- Calculate work done using `W = Fs`, using the distance moved in the direction of the force.
- Calculate speed or average speed using `v = \frac{s}{t}`, including for non-uniform motion by using total distance divided by total time.
- Interpret distance-time graphs by using the gradient to find speed and recognising horizontal sections as stationary periods.
- Interpret velocity-time graphs by using the gradient to find acceleration and the area under the graph to find displacement.
- Apply the SUVAT equations to uniformly accelerated motion by selecting known quantities, choosing a suitable equation and solving with correct units.
- Calculate resultant force, mass or acceleration using `F = ma`, and use the result to predict changes in motion.
- Explain terminal velocity by comparing weight and drag, identifying when the resultant force becomes zero and acceleration stops.
Revision Quiz
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