8

Science
Learners Module

Unit 1 Module 1

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Department of Education
Republic of the Philippines

Science Grade 8
Learners Module
First Edition, 2013
ISBN: 978-971-9990-72-7

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Published by the Department of Education
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Undersecretary: Yolanda S. Quijano, Ph.D.

Development Team of the Learners Module

Authors: Pia C. Campo, May R. Chavez, Maria Helen D.H. Catalan, Ph.D.,
Leticia V. Catris, Ph.D., Marlene B. Ferido, Ph.D., Ian Kendrich C. Fontanilla,
Ph.D., Jacqueline Rose M. Gutierrez, Shirley R. Jusayan, Michael Anthony B.
Mantala, Cerilina M. Maramag, Marie Paz E. Morales, Ph.D., Eligio C. Obille,
Jr., Digna Paningbatan, Genevieve Faye Pasamonte, Ma. Dulcelina O.
Sebastian, Rolando M. Tan, and Rodolfo S. Treyes, Ph.D.
Reviewers: Ernelea P. Cao, Ph.D., Josefina Ll. Pabellon, Ph.D., Ma. Cristina
D. Padolina, Ph.D., Risa L. Reyes, Ph.D., and Merle C. Tan, Ph.D.
Illustrators: Alvin J. Encarnacion, Ma. Laura V. Ginoy, Rizaldo Ramoncito S.
Saliva, and Andrew F. Torres
Layout Artist: Cecile N. Sales

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Unit 1: Force, Motion, and Energy
Page
Module 1. Forces and Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balanced and Unbalanced Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity 1: Forces on objects at rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity 2: Balance of forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unbalanced Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Combining Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Newtons Three Laws of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Newtons First of Motion: Law of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity 3: Investigating inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Measure of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Newtons Second Law of Motion: Law of Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity 4: Force and acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Free Fall and Newtons Second Law of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Circular Motion and Newtons Second Law of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Newtons Third Law of Motion: Law of Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity 5: Action-reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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UNIT 1
Force, Motion, and Energy

Module 1
Forces and Motion

Suggested time allotment: 8 to 10 hours

Unit 1
MODULE

FORCES AND MOTION

Overview
In Grade 7, you described an objects motion in terms of displacement, speed
or velocity, and acceleration. You performed activities wherein you interpreted or
created visual representations of the motion of objects such as tape charts and
motion graphs. The concepts were arrived at by studying examples of uniform motion
or objects moving in straight line at constant speed. Then you were also introduced
to non-uniform motion where the object covers unequal distances or displacements
at equal intervals of time. When a jeepney starts moving, it speeds up. When a
jeepney nears a stop sign, it slows down. The jeepney is covering different
displacements at equal time intervals and hence it is not moving at a uniform velocity.
In other words, the jeepney is accelerating.
Most of the motions we come across in our daily life are non-uniform and the
primary cause of changes in motion is FORCE. In this module, you will learn about
the effects of force on motion. Newtons Three Laws of Motion the central
organizing principle of classical mechanics will be presented and applied to real-life
situations.
At the end of Module 1, you will be able to answer the following key
questions:

Do forces always result in motion?

What are the conditions for an object to stay at rest, to keep moving at
constant velocity, or to move with increasing velocity?
How is force related to acceleration?

In the lower grades, you learned that an object can be moved by pushing or
pulling. In physics, this push and pull is referred to as force (F). Consider a ball on
top of a table as shown in Figure 1. If someone pushes the ball, it will move or roll
across the surface of the table (Figure 1a). And when it is again pushed in the
direction of its motion, it moves farther and even faster (Figure 1b). But when you
push it on the other side instead, opposite to the direction of its motion, the ball may
1

slow down and eventually stop (Figure 1c). Lastly, when you push it in a direction
different from its original direction of motion, the ball also changes its direction
(Figure 1d). Force, therefore, can make objects move, move faster, stop, or change
their direction of motion. But is this always the case? Can force always bring about
change in the state of motion of an object?

a.

c.

d.

b.

Figure 1. Effect of force on an object

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

An object may be acted upon by several forces. For example, an object may
be pushed and pulled in different directions at the same time. To identify which of
these forces would be able to cause change in the motion of the object, it is important
to identify all the forces acting on it.
To accurately describe the forces acting on an object, it is important for you to
be familiar first with the following terms: magnitude, direction, point of application,
and line of action. Forces are described in terms of these properties. Magnitude
refers to the size or strength of the force. It is commonly expressed in Newton (N).
Consider the diagram in Figure 2 showing a force, represented by the arrow, acting
on a ball. The direction of the arrow indicates the direction of the force while the
length of the arrow represents the relative magnitude of the force. If the force applied
on the ball is doubled, the length of the arrow is increased two times. The line of
action is the straight line passing through the point of application and is parallel to
the direction of the force.
Point of
application

Points to the
direction of the
force

Line of action

Line of action
F
Figure 2. Force acting on a ball

Activity 1
Forces on objects at rest
Objectives:
After performing this activity, you should be able to identify the forces acting
on an object at rest.

Materials:
pen
string

pair of scissors
book

Procedure
Situation 1
1.

Hang a pen by a piece of string as shown in Figure 3a.

Q1. Is the pen at rest or in motion?

Figure 3a. Hanging pen

Q2. Are there forces acting on the pen? If yes, draw the forces. You may use
arrows to represent these forces.
2.

Cut the string with a pair of scissors.

Q3. What happens to the pen? What could have caused the pens motion?

Situation 2
1.

Place a book on top of a table as shown in

Figure 3b.

Q4. Is the book at rest or in motion?

Q5. Are there forces acting on the book? If yes,
draw the forces acting on the book.
2.

Let one member of your group push the book

in one direction and another member push it
in the opposite direction at the same time with
the same amount of push (force).

Figure 3b. Book on a table

Q6. Did the book move? How will you make the
book move?

In the situations above, both the pen and the book are at rest. But this does
not mean that there are no forces acting on them. So what causes them to stay in
place? Consider the next activity.
3

Activity 2
Balance of forces
Objectives:
After performing this activity, you should be able to:
1.

examine the conditions when two forces balance, and

2.

explain the effect of balanced forces on the state of motion of an object.

Materials:
4 sets spring balance
1 piece of sturdy cardboard
threads

Procedure:
1.

Bore four holes around the cardboard as

shown. Label the holes A, B, C, and D.

2.

Attach threads to the holes.

3.

Attach a spring balance to thread A and another one to thread D. Hold the
cardboard to keep it still. Pull the balances along the same line such that when
released, the cardboard remains at rest.

4.

When the cardboard is at rest, examine the magnitudes and directions of the
two forces by reading the spring balance.

5.

Draw the line of action of the forces acting on the cardboard. Extend the lines
until they intersect. Mark the point of intersection and draw arrows starting at
this point to represent the forces acting on the cardboard.

6.

Repeat steps 3 to 5 for pair B and C.

Figure 4

Q7. When the cardboard is at rest, how do the magnitudes and directions of the pair
of forces acting on it compare?

7.

Now here is a challenge. Find out the directions of all the forces such that when
all the threads were pulled with the same amount, the cardboard will not move
or rotate when released.

Q8. If you draw the lines of action of all the forces acting on the board and extend
the lines, what will you get?
___________________________________________________________________

Line of action
Normal
force

Tension
force

Book

Pen
Force of
gravity

Force of
gravity

(a) Pen

(b) Book

Figure 5: Force diagram

The diagram in Figure 5 shows the forces acting on the a) pen and b) book in
Activity 1. You learned in lower grades that all objects fall down because gravity
pulls on them towards the center of the earth. But what makes the pen and the book
stay at rest? The pen stays in place because of another force that acts on it that is
supplied by the string which we refer to in physics as tension force (T). The book, on
the other hand, stays at rest because of the upward push exerted on it by the table
which we refer to as normal force (Fn). Both the tension force and normal force
counteract the pull of gravity (Fg) that acts on the objects. Study the diagram. How do
the lengths of the arrows in each case compare? How do the magnitudes and
directions of the pair of forces compare?
In both cases, we can infer that the objects remained at rest because the
forces acting on them are equal in magnitude and in opposite directions and they lie
along the same line of action (Figure 5). The forces are balanced. This was also
demonstrated in Activity 2. Also, if you try out step 7 in Activity 2, you will find that the
lines of action of the four forces intersect through a single point. This also explains
why the body does not move or rotate.
Unbalanced Forces
If you cut the string connected to the pen, the pen will fall. Or if you push the
book on one side across the table, the book will move but will not continue moving if
5

you dont continuously push it. The pen falls down because there is no more force
acting on it to counteract the pull of gravity. The book moves because of the push
that you applied. In other words, the forces acting on these objects are no longer
balanced. If an object initially at rest is under an unbalanced force, it moves in the
direction of the unbalanced force.
How about if the object is already in motion, how will the unbalanced force
affect its motion?
Place a ball on the desk then push it gently to one side. Observe the motion
of the ball as it rolls down the desk. What makes the ball stop rolling after sometime?
Again, you need to identify the forces acting on the ball. You can see in Fig. 6 that
the force of gravity and the normal force are again acting on the ball. But these forces
are balanced, and so the ball stays on top of the desk. However, there is another
force that acts on the ball along the horizontal line or along the force that set the ball
in motion. Do you still remember your lesson on friction in the lower grades? You
learned that friction is a force that acts between surfaces that are in contact with one
another. Friction in general acts opposite the direction of motion. In the case of the
rolling ball, the frictional force acts between the surfaces of the ball and the desk and
slows down the motion of the ball.
As the ball rolls to the right as shown in Figure 6, friction acts to the left to
retard its motion. Since you did not push the ball continuously there is no force
present to balance the force of friction. So the ball slowed down and eventually
stopped.
Fn

Ff
Fg

Figure 6. Forces acting on a rolling ball

Again, due to the unbalanced force, the object changes its state of motion
hence we say that it accelerates. Note that acceleration is not just an increase in
velocity, but also a decrease in velocity.
Combining Forces
When we combine or add forces to determine the net or unbalanced force,
we will limit our discussion to those forces which act along the same line of action.
The algebraic signs + and are used to indicate the direction of forces. Unlike signs
are used for forces acting in opposite directions, like in the case of the book lying on
the table. The force of gravity (Fg) and normal force (Fn) are assigned opposite signs
- Fn is given a positive (+) sign while Fg is given a negative (-) sign. If both Fg and Fn
6

are given a magnitude value of 3 units, then the net force along this line (vertical) will
be:
Fnet = Fn + Fg
= 3 units + (-3 units)
=0
If the sum of the forces equate to zero, they are considered balanced. If the
algebraic sum is not equal to zero, the forces are not balanced. The non-zero sum is
the net or unbalanced force. This unbalanced or net force would cause a change in a
bodys state of motion.

Concept check:
Study the illustrations and answer the questions that follow.
10 units
10 units

5 units

10 units

5 units
5 units

10 units

1. A boy and a girl are pulling a heavy crate at the

same time with 10 units of force each. What is the
net force acting on the object?
2. What if the boy and the girl pull the heavy crate at
the same time in opposite directions with 10 units
and 5 units of force respectively, what will be the
net force on the object? Will the object move? To
what direction will it move?
3. Suppose another girl pulls the heavy crate in with 5
units of force in the same direction as the girl, what
will be the net force that will act on the object? Will
the object move?

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

The principles behind Newtons laws of motion are very significant in
understanding the motion of objects in our universe. Their applications are all around
us. Understanding these laws, therefore, helps us understand why the things around
us move or behave the way they do.
Newtons First Law of Motion: Law of Inertia
You learned that if the forces acting on an object at rest are balanced or if
their algebraic sum equate to zero, the object stays at rest. This illustrates Newtons
First Law of Motion, a principle that was primarily based on the works of Galileo. The
following examples will help you understand this principle better.

Activity 3
Investigating inertia
Objective:
At the end of this activity, you should be able to demonstrate Newtons first
law of motion.

Materials:
empty glass
cardboard
1 peso coin

5-peso coins (5 pcs or more)

plastic ruler

Procedure
Coin Drop

Cardboard

Coin

1.

Arrange the setup as shown

in Figure 7.

2.

Slowly pull the cardboard

with your hand and observe
what happens.

3.

Arrange again the setup as

shown. This time, quickly
Figure 7. Cardboard and coin
flick the cardboard with your
finger. Observe again what happens.

Glass

Q9.

What happens when you slowly pulled the cardboard? Explain.

Q10.

What happens when you flicked the cardboard? Explain.

Stack of Coins
4.

Stack the coins on a flat level surface.

5.

Quickly hit the coin at the bottom with the edge of the ruler.

Q11.

What happens when you hit the coin at the bottom? Why is this so?

The examples above demonstrate the property of an object to resist any

change in its state of motion. In physics, this property is known as inertia. The coin
dropped into the glass because it was trying to remain in its state of rest. How about
in the second example? How will you explain the behavior of the coins when one of
them was hit with an edge of a ruler?

Measure of Inertia
All objects have the tendency to resist changes in their state of motion or
keep doing what they are doing. However, changing a bodys state of motion
depends on its inertia. A more massive object which has more inertia is more difficult
to move from rest, slow down, speed up, or change its direction.
Newton's first law states that an object at rest will stay at rest or an object in
motion will stay in motion and travel in straight line, as long as no external net force
acts on it. The object will change its state of motion only if there is unbalanced or net
force acting upon it.
Law of Inertia
A body will remain at rest or move at constant velocity unless acted
upon by an external net or unbalanced force.

Newtons Second Law of Motion: Law of Acceleration

You learned that when the velocity of a moving body changes, we describe
the motion as one with acceleration. Is there any relationship between acceleration
and any unbalanced force that acts on the body? Find out in the next activity.

Activity 4
Force and acceleration
Objective:
After this activity, you should be able to describe how the net force acting on
an object affects its acceleration.

Procedure:
Consider this situation below:
A group of students conducted an
experiment to determine the relationship
between the force acting on the object
and its acceleration. They used identical
rubber bands to pull the cart as shown in
Figure 8. They varied the number of

Figure 8. Cart pulled by rubber bands

rubber bands to vary the force acting on the cart. They started with 1 rubber band,
then with 2, 3, and 4 rubber bands, making sure that they stretched the rubber bands
to the same length every time they pull the cart. They used a ticker tape timer to
determine the acceleration of the cart. A ticker tape was connected to the cart such
that when the cart was pulled, the paper tape will be pulled through the timer. And as
the paper tape was pulled through the timer, small dots are formed on the tape.
Starting with the tape for 1 rubber band, they marked the first clear dot and
every 6th dot thereafter and cut the tape along these points (Figure 9). Then they
pasted the strips side by side in order on a graphing paper to produce the tape chart
for F=1 unit. They did the same for the other tapes to produce tape charts for F=2
units, F=3 units, and F=4 units.

Figure 9: Sample tape

A.

Tape chart analysis

1.

Obtain from your teacher the copies of the tape charts produced by the
students for the 4 runs.

Q12.

Compare the charts. What similarities and differences have you noticed
among them?
The length of strip in each chart represents the total distance travelled by the
cart over a time interval of 0.10 seconds. Recall that the total distance
travelled over a unit time gives the average velocity of the moving body, or
speed when travelling in straight line. Hence, each strip represents the
average velocity of the cart over a time interval of 0.10 seconds.

2.

Examine the tape chart for F=1 unit.

Q13.

What does the increase in the lengths of the strips suggest? What can you
say about the motion of the cart - is it moving in uniform motion or is it
accelerating? Is this also true with the other runs?

Q14.

How do you compare the increase in length of the strips in F= 1 unit? What
does this tell you about the change in the velocity of the cart? Is this also true
with the other tape charts?

Q15.

How do you compare the increase in length of the strips among the four tape
charts? Which tape chart shows the greatest increase in the length of the
strips? Which tape chart shows the least increase in the length of the strips?

3.

Draw a line that passes through all the dots at the ends of the strips in F=1 unit.
Do the same for the other tape charts.

10

Q16.

B.

Describe the line formed. Does the same pattern exist for the other tape
charts?
Quantitative analysis
You can also use the tape chart to compute for the average velocity (vave),
change in velocity (v), and acceleration (a) of the cart for each run. Work only
on the tape chart assigned to your group. Other groups will be working on the
other charts. You may follow the simple instruction below.

4.

Label each strip 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as shown in Figure 10.

Figure10: Sample tape chart

5.

Compute for the average velocity of the cart over each time interval by
measuring the length of the strip and dividing it by the time covered to travel
such distance. Example, if the length of the strip is equal to 2.5 cm, then the
average velocity during that time interval will be
vave = 2.5 cm / 0.10sec

Q17.

6.

Q18.

7.

Q19.

= 25 cm/s
How do the values of vave compare? What does this tell you about the motion
of the cart?
Next, determine the difference in the average velocities (v) of the cart between
two successive time intervals. Example, you can get the difference in the
average velocities between strips 1 & 2, between strips 2 & 3, and so on.
How do the computed values of v compare? What does this tell you about
the motion of the cart?
Recall that acceleration is defined as the change in velocity per unit of time. To
get the acceleration of the cart, divide your computed values of v in step 6 by
0.10 seconds, the unit of time. Have at least three computed values of
acceleration.
How do your computed values of acceleration compare?

8.

Compute for the average acceleration aave.

9.

Ask from the other groups the values of aave for the other tape charts. Record
them all in Table 1 below.

11

Table 1. Computed values of aave

Tape chart
# of rubber bands

Q20.

F = 1 unit

F = 2 units

F = 3 units

F = 4 units

Computed aave

In this activity, the number of rubber bands represents the magnitude or

amount of the force acting on the cart. How is acceleration of the cart related
to the amount of force acting on it?

If the net force acting on an object is constant, its velocity changes at a

constant rate over time. Hence, it is considered to be moving with constant
acceleration. In the tape chart, this is indicated by the uniform increase in length of
the strips over time. But if the force acting on the object is changed, its acceleration
will also change. In your previous activity, you noticed that as the number of rubber
bands increases, the acceleration of the cart also increases. When the net force is
doubled, acceleration is also doubled. When it is tripled, acceleration is also tripled.
We can therefore say that at constant mass, the acceleration of an object is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the unbalanced force F acting on it. This relationship
can be mathematically expressed as:
a = kF
where k = mass
What if the mass of the object is changed and the force is kept constant?
Acceleration also varies with the mass of the object. As the mass of the object
increases, with the same amount of force applied, its acceleration decreases. This
relationship can also be expressed as:

a = k (1/m)

where k = net force

If you combine these two relationships, you would come up with this relationship:

Law of Acceleration
The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
net force acting on it and is inversely proportional to its mass.
This statement actually pertains to Newtons second law of motion or Law of
Acceleration, because it is concerned with the relation of acceleration to mass and
force. This can be expressed in equation form as:
Acceleration = Net force / Mass

a = Fnet /m
12

Fnet = ma

This is often rearranged as:

Like any other quantity, force has a unit and is expressed in Newton (N). One
Newton is defined as the amount of force required to give a 1-kg mass an
acceleration of 1 m/s/s, or
1Newton (N) = 1kg/ms2
Sample mathematical problem:
Suppose a ball of mass 0.60 kg is hit with a force of 12 N. Its acceleration will be:
FNet
m
12N
a=
0.60kg
a=

a = 20m / s 2

If the force is increased to 24 N for the same ball then,

24N
40m/s 2 .
0.6kg

Free Fall and Newtons Second Law of Motion

Suppose you drop two books of different masses from the same height, which
will hit the ground first?
Think about this: If we use the law of acceleration, the heavier book must be
the one to hit the ground first because gravity pulls on it with more force. But if we
use the law of inertia, the lighter book must be the one to hit the ground first because
of its lesser inertia. But if you actually try it out, you would find that they will both
reach the floor at the same time. How come?
Gravity acts on all objects on the earths surface and causes them to
accelerate when released. This acceleration, known as the acceleration due to
gravity g, is the same for all objects on earth and is equal to 9.8 m/s2. This means
that when objects fall, their velocities increase by 9.8 m/s every 1 second.
The books in the example above fall to the ground at the same rate
(acceleration) even if they differ in mass. And since they were released from the
same height at the same time, they will reach the ground at the same time.

13

Circular Motion and Newtons Second Law of Motion

Newtons Second Law was arrived at by studying straight line motion. Does
this law apply to circular motion as well?
Try to whirl an object tied to a string horizontally above your head. Then
observe what happens if you release the object. How does it travel after release?
You learned in Grade 7 that acceleration does not only refer to change in
speed. It also refers to change in direction. In the case of circular motion, the
whirling object accelerates not due to the change in its speed but to the change in the
direction of its velocity. By Newtons second law of motion, a net force must be acting
on accelerating objects. So where is this net force coming from? For the stone to
move in a horizontal circle, what must you do? You have to pull the stone inward
towards the center of the circular path, right? So the force comes from the string that
pulls the object towards the center of its circular path (Figure 11). If you remove this
force by either cutting or releasing the string, you will observe that the object will
continue to move straight and fly off tangential to the path. This is the natural
tendency of the object if there is no net force acting on it, according to the First Law
of Motion. But because of the net force from the string, instead of going straight, the
object accelerates inwards thereby covering a circular path. The object is said to be
in uniform circular motion.

Cut or
release
the string

(Circular)
path

Object flies off

tangentially

Figure 11. Object in circular motion

Think about this!

If the object in uniform circular motion is accelerating towards the center of the circle,
why does it maintain a circular path at a constant radius and never get closer to the
center of the circle?

14

Newtons Third Law of Motion: Law of Interaction

Activity 5
Action-reaction
Objective:
In this activity, you should be able to compare two interacting forces in terms
of magnitude and direction.

Materials:
2 spring balances
string

Procedure:
1.

Q21.
Q22.
2.

Connect 2 spring balances with their hooks. Ask your partner to hold one end
of the balance while you hold the other end horizontally. Pull the spring
balance while your partner just holds the other end. Record the reading on
each balance.
What is the reading on your balance and that of your partner? What do
these values represent?
How do you compare the direction of your partners and your force?
Pull the spring balance harder. Be careful not to exceed the maximum reading
on the spring balance.

Q23.

What is the reading on your balance and that of your partner?

Q24.

How do you explain your observation?

3.

Attach one end of your spring balance to the wall, while the other end is
connected to the second spring balance. Ask your partner to pull the spring
balance. Observe the reading on each balance.

Q25.

What is the reading in each balance?

Q26.

Compare the direction of the forces exerted on the two ends of the connected
spring balance.

In the simplest sense, a force is a push or a pull. However, Newton realized

that a force is not a thing in itself but part of mutual action, an interaction, between
one thing and another.
For example, consider the interaction between a hammer and a nail. A
hammer exerts a force on the nail and drives it into a board. But this is not the only
force present for there must also be a force exerted on the hammer to stop it in the
process. What exerts this force? The nail does. Newton reasoned that while the
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hammer exerts a force on the nail, the nail exerts a force on the hammer. So, in the
interaction between the hammer and the nail, there is a pair of forces, one acting on
the nail and the other acting on the hammer. Such observations led Newton to his
third law: the law of interaction.
In Activity 5, you observed the similarities and differences between the
interacting forces in terms of magnitude and direction. This relationship is stated in
Newtons Third Law of Motion Law of Interaction.

Law of Interaction (Action-Reaction)

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Because the forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, do you
think they will cancel each other? In this case, no addition of forces will take place
because these forces are acting on different bodies. The spring balances act on each
other.
The difference between the forces related to Law of Interaction and forces in
a balanced state are as follows:

Action-Reaction Forces
Two forces are equal in size.
Two forces are opposite to each
other in terms of direction.
Two forces have the same line
of action.
Action acts on one object, while
reaction acts on another object.

Balanced Forces
Two forces are equal in size.
Two forces are opposite to each
other in terms of direction.
Two forces act along the same
line.
Two forces act upon the same
object.

References and Links

Herr, N. (2008). The sourcebook for teaching science: Strategies, activities, and
instructional resources, grades 6-12. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Department of Education, Culture and Sports. (DECS). (n.d.). Physics teachers
resource manual. Pasig City. Author.
Department of Education. (DepEd). (2002). Lesson Plans for the 2002 Basic
Education Curriculum: Science IV. Pasig City. Author.
The

Physics Classroom (1996-2013).

www.physicsclassroom.com

Newtons

laws.

Retrieved

from

University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics

Education Development. (2002). Practical work on high school physics:
Sourcebook for teachers. Quezon City: Author.

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