Forces

Workbook: Week 2
Learning Intention: Students will be able to
• Identify the characteristics of specific forces in terms of size and
direction.
• Describe the result of a change in the direction of a force.
• Describe the result of a change in the size of a force.

Key Words
• Field
• Force
• Friction
• Interact
• Motion
• Magnitude
• Net Force
• Vector
The size and direction of forces

Every moment of the day, you are either applying forces to objects or force is being

applied to you. Each force has two key characteristics. The direction of the force

affects the direction that an object moves or whether it slows down or speeds up.

The size, or magnitude, of the force affects how much the object might move or how

quickly it speeds up or slows down.

An object is accelerating whenever it changes speed. When an object increases its

speed, it is said to have positive acceleration and so is going faster and faster. If an

object slows down, it is said to be decelerating or has negative acceleration, so it

moves slower and slower.

Usually there are a number of different forces acting on an object. Each force is often

a push or pull in different directions. These forces need to be shown in a diagram.

Scientists draw forces using special arrows called vectors. The direction that the

arrow (vector) is pointing indicates which way the force is acting on an object, big

forces are shown as long arrows and small forces are short arrows.
Every force has a magnitude (size). A spring gets shorter when it is squashed or

longer when a pull force is applied. The bigger the force, the more the spring is

squashed or stretched. This allows us to measure forces. If a pointer is attached to a

spring, then any change in the length of the spring can be measured. Spring

balances and most kitchen and bathroom scales use this method to weigh things. All

forces are measured in Newtons (N). The net force is the sum of all the forces acting

on an object.
Review Questions
Answer the following questions using full sentences.

1. What are two characteristics of forces?

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2. What words are used to describe the direction that force is applied in?

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3. How can you make a ball go further when throwing it?

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4. State the unit used to measure forces and its symbol.

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 5. Specify how forces are shown in diagrams.

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6. Identify three examples of situations in which an object:

a. Speeds up
b. Slows down
c. Changes direction
d. Changes shape permanently
e. Changes shape for a short time then bounces back to its original shape
f. Stops

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 7. Identify which of the situations in the diagrams below show:
a. Acceleration
b. Deceleration
c. Change in shape
d. Change in direction

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Draw a force diagram and complete the calculations for the following scenarios. The
first is done for you.

1 A truck drives along with a force

of 100 N. The driver applies the
breaks with a force of 60 N. Is
the truck still moving? If so with 100 N
what amount of force? 60 N

Truck still moving forward with 40 N

2 A dog on a lead is running along

with a force of 5 N. What amount
of force, and in which direction,
does the owner need to apply to
get the dog to stop?

3 A small child is riding their

scooter with a force of 10 N.
Their parent comes along
behind them and starts pushing
them with a force of 6 N. What is
the net force of the child on the
scooter now?

4 A skydiver is accelerating
towards the ground with a force
of 100 N. When deployed, their
parachute applies a force of 90
N (air resistance). What is their
net force?

5 Two teams are competing in

tug-of-war. The team on the left
is pulling with a force of 1500 N.
The team on the right is pulling
with a force of 1750 N. Which
direction will the losing team be
pulled towards?
 Measuring forces
1. Spring balances

The diagram below shows a spring balance that is clamped to a stand. The hand is
applying a pulling force.

) 1. When the hand pulls down, identify what happens to the

spring inside the balance.

2. There are two scales on the balance. The left scale reads
100 g. The right scale reads about 1 N. Which scale is
measuring the force applied by the hand?

3. A 400-g mass is now hung on the hook of the spring

balance. Predict the reading (in newtons) on the balance.
4. A spring balance is actually a ‘newton meter’. Explain.

2. Plotting mass and weight data on Planet X

The following data was collected using known masses and a spring balance. The
experiment was conducted on Planet X, where gravity is different to Earth.

Mass (kg) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 ?

Weight (N) 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2 4.0 3.0
1. Plot the data on the grid. Draw the line of best
fit.

2. Give your graph a title. Write it in the space

provided.

) 3. An object has a weight of 3.0 N. Use your

graph to determine its mass.

4. Is gravity on Planet X greater or less than on the

surface of Earth? Explain.
Extension Work
Practical Activity: Measuring Forces
Aim: To measure the force required to perform some common activities.
Equipment:
• Spring balance
• Various objects to test e.g. door handle, sticky tape, book, pencil case
Method:
1) Use a spring balance to measure the forces listed below.
a. Open and close the door
b. Pull off sticky tape from the table
c. Pull your science book off the desk
d. Lift or unzip your pencil case
2) Some of the forces may change as you measure them. If so, record the smallest and
largest measurements you take. We call this the range of measurements. Measure
each object 3 times and record your measurements in the table below.
3) Note that some measurements may be too large or too small for you to measure.
4) Graph your results using the data you collected. (Hint: You will need to use a column
graph).
Results:

Force (N) Force (N) Force (N) Average (N)

Door

Sticky tape

Science book

Pencil case
Graph: Force needed to move various objects.
 Questions:
1. Look carefully at your results. Explain what factors made some measurements very large.
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2. Using your graph, list the forces from largest to smallest. Explain why some objects needed
a large force and why some needed a small force.
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