Concept learning

(FOR STUDENT TEACHERS)

(A Work of the M. Ed. Students of the Regional Institute of Education, Mysore)'''

 CONTENTS 

What is Force? Types of Force

How to Calculate Force

Other Web Resources on Force

The Designers of this Page

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Force Objective 1: Students will be able to understand the concept force.

A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another object. Whenever there is an interaction between two objects, there is a force upon each of the objects. When the interaction ceases, the two objects no longer experience the force. Example: 	Moving a book placed on a table, opening or shutting a door, drawing a bucket of 			water from a well, a cricket ball hit by a batsman. Force may make an object move from rest. Force may change the speed of an object if it is moving. May change the direction of motion of an object. May bring about a change in the shape of an object. May cause some or all these effects. Check your self: 1.	Give two Examples each situations in which you push or pull to change the state of 	motion of object. 2.	Fill in the blanks in the following statements. a.	To draw water from a well we have to ___________ at the rope. b.	To move a loaded trolley we have to ___________ it.

Objective 2: Students will be able to identify different type of forces All forces (interactions) between objects can be placed into two broad categories: •	Contact forces •	Non contact force

Contact forces are those types of forces that result when the two interacting objects are perceived to be physically contacting each other. Examples of contact forces include frictional forces, tensional forces, normal forces Non contact force are those types of forces that result even when the two interacting objects are not in physical contact with each other, yet are able to exert a push or pull despite their physical separation. Examples of action-at-a-distance forces include gravitational forces. For example, the sun and planets exert a gravitational pull on each other despite their large spatial separation. Even when your feet leave the earth and you are no longer in physical contact with the earth, there is a gravitational pull between you and the Earth. Examples of contact and non contact forces are listed in the table below. Contact Forces	Non Contact Force Frictional Force

Gravitational Force

Tension Force

Electrical Force

Normal Force

Magnetic Force

Air Resistance Force

Applied Force

Spring Force

Force is a quantity that is measured using the standard metric unit known as the Newton. A Newton is abbreviated by an "N." To say "10.0 N" means 10.0 Newton of force. One Newton is the amount of force required to give a 1-kg mass an acceleration of 1 m/s/s. Thus, the following unit equivalency can be stated:

Types of Forces A force is a push or pull acting upon an object as a result of its interaction with another object. There are a variety of types of forces. Previously in this lesson, a variety of force types were placed into two broad category headings on the basis of whether the force resulted from the contact or non-contact of the two interacting objects. •	Applied Force •	Gravitational Force •	Normal Force •	Frictional Force •	Air Resistance Force •	Tension Force •	Spring Force

Type of Force Description of Force Applied Force An applied force is a force that is applied to an object by a person or another object. If a person is pushing a desk across the room, then there is an applied force acting upon the object. The applied force is the force exerted on the desk by the person.

Gravity Force The force of gravity is the force with which the earth, moon, or other massively large object attracts another object towards itself. By definition, this is the weight of the object. All objects upon earth experience a force of gravity that is directed "downward" towards the center of the earth. The force of gravity on earth is always equal to the weight of the object as found by the equation: Fgrav = m * g where g = 9.8 N/

Normal Force The normal force is the support force exerted upon an object that is in contact with another stable object. For example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order to support the weight of the book. On occasions, a normal force is exerted horizontally between two objects that are in contact with each other. For instance, if a person leans against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the person.

Friction Force The friction force is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it. There are at least two types of friction force - sliding and static friction. Thought it is not always the case, the friction force often opposes the motion of an object. For example, if a book slides across the surface of a desk, then the desk exerts a friction force in the opposite direction of its motion. Friction results from the two surfaces being pressed together closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces between molecules of different surfaces. As such, friction depends upon the nature of the two surfaces and upon the degree to which they are pressed together. The maximum amount of friction force that a surface can exert upon an object can be calculated using the formula below: Ffrict = µ • Fnorm The friction force is discussed in more detail later on this page.

Air Resistance Force The air resistance is a special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air. The force of air resistance is often observed to oppose the motion of an object. This force will frequently be neglected due to its negligible magnitude (and due to the fact that it is mathematically difficult to predict its value). It is most noticeable for objects that travel at high speeds (e.g., a skydiver or a downhill skier) or for objects with large surface areas. Air resistance will be discussed in more detail in Lesson 3.

Tension Force The tension force is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends. The tension force is directed along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the objects on the opposite ends of the wire.

Spring Force The spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon any object that is attached to it. An object that compresses or stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force that restores the object to its rest or equilibrium position. For most springs (specifically, for those that are said to obey "Hooke's Law"), the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch or compression of the spring.