UNIT 9.

7: FORCE AND MOTION

The unit is organized based on two ideas: forces and motion and types of interactions. Students build an
understanding of forces and interactions and Newton’s first Law. Students demonstrate proficiency in planning
and conducting investigations, analyzing data and using mathematical calculations to support claims, and
applying scientific ideas to solve problems, and to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core
ideas. The crosscutting concepts of cause and effect and structure and function are called out as organizing
concepts for these core ideas.

Learning objectives

By the end of the topic, the students can:

 Define force, and give examples of forces.
 Describe how forces combine and affect motion.

What is Force?
Force is defined as a push or a pull acting on an object. Examples of forces include
(i) Friction, (ii) gravity and another example of force is applied force. It occurs when a person or thing
applies force to an object, like the girl pushing the swing in Figure 4.1. The force of the push causes the
swing to move.

Another example of applied force is the force applied to tyres of a moving vehicle by the engine.

Any time the motion of an object changes, a force has been applied. Force can cause a stationary object to start
moving or a moving object to accelerate (change its speed). The moving object may change its speed, its
direction, or both. How much an object’s motion changes when a force is applied depends on the strength of
the force and the object’s mass.

Force as a Vector
Force is a vector quantity because it has both size and direction. For example, the girl in the Figure is pushing
the swing away from herself. That’s the direction of the force. She can give the swing a strong push or a weak
push. That’s the size, or strength, of the force.

Like other vectors, forces can be represented with arrows. The length of each arrow represents the strength of
the force, and the way the arrow points represents the direction of the force.
20N
15N East South

12N West
10N
North

1
A force is a physical agent that can deform an object or change its state of rest or of motion.

SI Unit of Force
The SI unit of force is the newton (N). One newton is the amount of force that causes a mass of 1 kilogram to
accelerate at 1 m/s2 . The mathematical formula to calculate Force is Force = mass x acceleration. F = ma
Thus, the newton can also be expressed as kg·m/s2 . The newton was named for the scientist Sir Isaac Newton,
who is famous for his law of gravity.

Combining Forces
More than one force may act on an object at the same time. In fact, just about all objects on Earth have at least
two forces acting on them at all times. One force is gravity, which pulls objects down toward the center of
Earth. The other force is an upward force that may be
provided by the ground or other surface. Consider the
example of a book resting on a table. Gravity pulls the
book downward with a force of 20 newtons. At the same
time, the table pushes the book upward with a force of
20 newtons. The combined forces acting on the book —
or any other object — are called the net force. This is
the overall force acting on an object that takes into
account all of the individual forces acting on the object.

Forces Acting in Opposite Directions

When two forces act on an object in opposite directions, like the book on the table, the net force is equal to the
difference between the two forces. In other words, one force is subtracted from the other to calculate the net
force. If the opposing forces are equal in strength, the net force is zero. That’s what happens with the book on
the table. The upward force minus the downward force equals zero (20 N up - 20 N down = 0 N). Because the
forces on the book are balanced, the book remains on the table and doesn’t move. In addition to these
downward and upward forces, which generally cancel each other out, forces may push or pull an object in
other directions. When opposing forces are unbalanced, the net force is greater than zero.

25N East + 40 N West = 15 N West

Forces Acting in the Same Direction

Two forces may act on an object in the same direction. You can
see an example below. After the man on the left lifts up the
couch, he will push the couch to the right with a force of
25 newtons. At the same time, the man to the right is pulling the
couch to the right with a force of 20 newtons. When two forces
act in the same direction, the net force is equal to the sum of the
forces. This always results in a stronger force than either of the
individual forces alone. In this case, the net force on the couch is
45 newtons to the right, so the couch will move to the right.

2
 TOPIC 2: FORCES AND EFFECTS

Learning objectives

By the end of the topic, the students can:

• Define gravity.
• State Newton’s law of universal gravitation.
• Explain how gravity affects the motion of objects.

What is gravity?
Gravity has traditionally been defined as a force of attraction between two masses. According to this
conception of gravity, anything that has mass, no matter how small, exerts gravity on other matter. The effect
of gravity is that objects exert a pull on other objects. Unlike friction, which acts only between objects that are
touching, gravity also acts between objects that are not touching. In fact, gravity can act over very long
distances.

Earth’s Gravity
You are already very familiar with Earth’s gravity. It constantly pulls you toward the centre of the planet. It
prevents you and everything else on Earth from being flung out into space as the planet spins on its axis. It also
pulls objects above the surface, from meteors to skydivers, down to the ground. Gravity between Earth and the
moon and between Earth and artificial satellites keeps all these objects circling around Earth. Gravity also
keeps Earth moving around the sun.

Gravity and Weight

Weight measures the force of gravity pulling on an
object. Because weight measures force, the SI unit
for weight is the newton (N). On Earth, a mass of 1
kilogram has a weight of about 10 newtons because
of the pull of Earth’s gravity on the moon, which has
less gravity, the same mass would weigh less. Weight
is measured with a scale, like the spring scale below.
The scale measures the force with which gravity pulls
an object downward.

Law of Gravity
People have known about gravity for thousands of years. After all, they constantly experienced gravity in their
daily lives. They knew that things always fall toward the ground. However, it wasn’t until Sir Isaac Newton
developed his law of gravity in the late 1600s that people really began to understand gravity.

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton was the first one to suggest that gravity is universal and affects all objects in the universe. That’s why
his law of gravity is called the law of universal gravitation. Universal gravitation means that the force that
causes an apple to fall from a tree to the ground is the same force that causes the moon to keep moving around
Earth. Universal gravitation also means that while Earth exerts a pull on you, you exert a pull on the Earth. In
fact, there is gravity between you and every mass around us. Even tiny molecules of gas are attracted to one
another by the force of gravity. Newton’s law had a huge impact on how people thought about the universe. It
explains the motion of objects not only on Earth but in outer space as well.

3
Factors That Influence the Strength of Gravity
Newton’s law also states that the strength of gravity between any two objects depends on two factors: the
masses of the objects and the distance between them.
 Objects with greater mass have a stronger force of gravity. For example, because Earth is so massive, it
attracts you and your chair more strongly than you and your desk attract each other.
That’s why you and the desk remain in place on the floor rather than moving toward one another.
 Objects that are closer together have a stronger force of gravity. For example, the moon is closer to
Earth than it is to the more massive sun, so the force of gravity is greater between the moon and Earth
than between the moon and the sun. That’s why the moon circles around Earth rather than the sun.

Einstein’s Theory of Gravity

Newton’s idea of gravity can predict the motion of most but not all objects. In the early 1900s, Albert
Einstein came up with a theory of gravity that is better at predicting how all objects move. Einstein showed
mathematically that gravity is not really a force in the sense that Newton thought. Instead, gravity is a result of
the warping, or curving, of space and time. Imagine a bowling ball pressing down on a trampoline. The surface
of the trampoline would curve downward instead of being flat. Einstein theorized that Earth and other very
massive bodies affect space and time around them in a similar way. This idea is represented in the figure
below. According to Einstein, objects curve toward one another because of the curves in space and time, not
because they are pulling on each other with a force

Gravity and Motion Regardless of what gravity is — a force between

masses or the result of curves in space and time — the effects of gravity
on motion are well known. You already know that gravity causes objects
to fall down to the ground. Gravity affects the motion of objects in other
ways as well. Acceleration Due to Gravity When gravity pulls objects
toward the ground, it causes them to accelerate. Acceleration due to gravity
equals 9.8 m/s2 . In other words, the velocity at which an object falls toward
Earth increases each second by 9.8 m/s. Therefore, after 1 second, an object
Is falling at a velocity of 9.8 m/s. After 2 seconds, it is falling at a velocity
of 19.6 m/s (9.8 m/s × 2), and so on. You can compare the acceleration due
to gravity on Earth, the moon, and Mars with “Freefall”

A boy drops an object at time t = 0 s.

At time t = 1 s, the object is falling at a velocity of 9.8 m/s.
What is its velocity by time t = 5?

4
We might think that an object with greater mass would accelerate faster than an object with less mass. After
all, its greater mass means that it is pulled by a stronger force of gravity. However, a more massive object
accelerates at the same rate as a less massive object. The reason? The more massive object is harder to move
because of its greater mass. As a result, it ends up moving at the same acceleration as the less massive object.
Consider a bowling ball and a basketball. The bowling ball has greater mass than the basketball. However, if
you were to drop both balls at the same time from the same distance above the ground, they would reach the
ground together. This is true of all falling objects, unless air resistance affects one object more than another.
For example, a falling leaf is slowed down by air resistance more than a falling acorn because of the leaf’s
greater surface area. However, if the leaf and acorn were to fall in the absence of air (that is, in a vacuum), they
would reach the ground at the same time.

Projectile Motion
Earth’s gravity also affects the acceleration of objects that start out moving horizontally, or parallel to the
ground. A cannon shoots a cannon ball straight ahead, giving the ball horizontal motion. At the same time,
gravity pulls the ball down toward the ground. Both forces acting together cause the ball to move in a curved
path. This is called projectile motion.

Projectile motion also applies to other moving objects, such as arrows shot from a bow. To hit the bull’s eye of
a target with an arrow, you actually have to aim for a spot above the bull’s eye. That’s because by the time the
arrow reaches the target, it has started to curve downward toward the ground.

Orbital Motion The moon moves around Earth in a circular path called an orbit. Why doesn’t Earth’s gravity
pull the moon down to the ground instead? The moon has enough forward velocity to partly counter the force
of Earth’s gravity. It constantly falls toward Earth, but it stays far enough away from Earth so that it actually
falls around the planet. As a result, the moon keeps orbiting Earth and never crashes into it. The diagram below
shows how this happens.

5
 In this diagram, “v” represents the forward
velocity of the moon, and “a” represents
the acceleration due to gravity.

The line encircling Earth shows the moon’s

actual orbit, which results from the
combination of “v” and “a.”

TOPIC 3: NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION

Learning objectives
By the end of the topic, the students can:
• Explain Newton’s first law of motion.
• Define inertia, and explain its relationship to mass

Forces
A soccer ball sits on the ground, motionless, until you kick it. Your science book sits on the table until you
pick it up. If you hold your book above the ground, then let it go, gravity pulls it to the floor.
In every one of these cases, the motion of the ball or book was changed by something pushing or pulling on it.
An object will speed up, slow down, or turn only if something is pushing or pulling on it. A force is a push or a
pull. Think about throwing a ball. Your hand exerts a force on the ball, and the ball accelerates forward until it
leaves your hand. After the ball leaves your hand, the force of gravity causes its path to curve downward.

When the ball hits the ground, the ground exerts a force, stopping the ball.
A force can be exerted in different ways. For instance, a paper clip can be moved by the force a magnet exerts,
the pull of Earth’s gravity, or the force you exert when you pick it up. These are all examples of forces acting
on the paper clip.

6
Combining Forces
More than one force can act on an object at the same time. If you hold a paper clip near a magnet, you, the
magnet, and gravity all exert forces on the paper clip. The combination of all the forces acting on an object is
the net force.

When more than one force is acting on an object, the net force determines the motion of the object. In this
example, the paper clip is not moving, so the net force is zero. How do forces combine to form the net force? If
the forces are in the same direction, they add together to form the net force. If two forces are in opposite
directions, then the net force is the difference between the two forces, and it is in the direction of the larger
force.

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

A force can act on an object without causing it to accelerate if other forces cancel the push or pull of the force.
Look at Figure 2. If you and your friend push on a door with the same force in opposite directions, the door
does not move. Because you both exert forces of the same size in opposite directions on the door, the two
forces cancel each other.

Two or more forces exerted on an object are balanced forces if their effects cancel each other and they do not
cause a change in the object’s motion. If the forces on an object are balanced, the net force is zero. If the forces
are unbalanced forces, their effects don’t cancel each other. Any time the forces acting on an object are
unbalanced, the net force is not zero and the motion of the object changes.

When the forces on an object are balanced, no change in motion occurs. A change
in motion occurs only when the forces acting on an object are unbalanced.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Newton’s first law of motion states that an object’s motion will not change unless an unbalanced force acts on
the object. If the object is at rest, it will stay at rest. If the object is in motion, it will stay in motion and its
velocity will remain the same. In other words, neither the direction nor the speed of the object will change as
long as the net force acting on it is zero.

When a pool player pushes the pool stick against the white ball, the white ball is set into motion. Once the
white ball is rolling, it rolls all the way across the table and stops moving only after it crashes into the cluster
of colored balls. Then, the force of the collision starts the colored balls moving. Some may roll until they
bounce off the raised sides of the table. Some may fall down into the holes at the edges of the table.
None of these motions will occur, however, unless that initial push of the pool stick is applied. As long as the
net force on the balls is zero, they will remain at rest. 7
Inertia
Newton’s first law of motion is also called the law of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist a
change in its motion. If an object is already at rest, inertia will keep it at rest. If the object is already moving,
inertia will keep it moving. Think about what happens when you are riding in a car that stops suddenly. Your
body moves forward on the seat. Why? The brakes stop the car but not your body, so your body keeps moving
forward because of inertia. That’s why it’s important to always wear a seat belt.
The car keeps changing direction, but the riders keep moving in the same direction as before. They slide to the
opposite side of the car as a result.

Inertia and Mass

The inertia of an object depends on its mass.
Objects with greater mass also have greater inertia.
Think how hard it would be to push a big box full of
books, like the one in Figure Below. Then think how
easy it would be to push the box if it was empty.
The full box is harder to move because it has
greater mass and therefore greater inertia.

Overcoming Inertia
To change the motion of an object, inertia must be overcome by an unbalanced force acting on the object. Until
the soccer player kicks the ball in a penalty, the ball remains motionless on the ground. However, when the ball
is kicked, the force on it is suddenly unbalanced. The ball starts moving across the field because its inertia has
been overcome.

TOPIC 4: THE BUOYANT FORCE

Learning objectives
By the end of the topic, the students can:
• Explain how the buoyant force determines why an object floats or sinks in fluid.
• Explain Archimede’s principal

The Buoyant Force

Think about the forces that are acting on a person as he/she floats motionless on the surface of a pool or lake.
According to Newton’s second law of motion, the forces on you must be balanced. Earth’s gravity is pulling
the person downward, so an upward force must be balancing the weight. This force is called the buoyant force.
The buoyant force is an upward force that is exerted by a fluid on any object in the fluid.

8
What causes the buoyant force?
The buoyant force is caused by the pressure that is exerted by a fluid on an object in the fluid. The figure below
shows a cube-shaped object submerged in a glass of water. The water exerts pressure everywhere over the
surface of the object. Recall that the pressure exerted by a fluid has two properties. One is that the direction of
the pressure on a surface is always perpendicular to the surface. The other is that the pressure exerted by a fluid
increases as you go deeper into the fluid.

The pressure exerted on the bottom of the cube is greater than the
pressure on the top. The fluid exerts a net upward force on the
cube.

Sinking and Floating

If you drop a stone into a pool of water, it sinks. But if you toss a twig on the water, it floats. An upward
buoyant force acts on the twig and the stone, so why does one float and one sink? The buoyant force pushes an
object in a fluid upward, but gravity pulls the object downward. If the weight of the object is greater than the
buoyant force, the net force on the object is downward and it sinks. If the buoyant force is equal to the object’s
weight, the forces are balanced and the object floats. As shown below, the fish floats because the buoyant force
on it balances its weight. The rocks sink because the buoyant force acting on them is not large enough to
balance their weight.

The weight of a rock is more than the buoyant force exerted by the
water, so it sinks to the bottom.

Changing the Buoyant Force Whether an object sinks or floats depends on whether the buoyant force is smaller
than its weight. The weight of an object depends only on the object’s mass, which is the amount of matter the
object contains. The weight does not change if the shape of the object changes. A piece of modeling clay
contains the same amount of matter whether it’s squeezed into a ball or pressed flat. Buoyant Force and Shape
Buoyant force does depend on the shape of the object. The fluid exerts upward pressure on the entire lower
surface of the object that is in contact with the fluid. If this surface is made larger, then more upward pressure
is exerted on the object and the buoyant force is greater.

9
The Buoyant Force Doesn’t Change with Depth Suppose you drop a steel cube into the ocean. You might think
that the cube would sink only to a depth where the buoyant force on the cube balances its weight. However, the
steel sinks to the bottom, no matter how deep the ocean is. The buoyant force on the cube is the difference
between the downward force due to the water pressure on the top of the cube and the upward force due to
water pressure on the bottom of the cube. The following figure shows that when the cube is deeper, the
pressure on the top surface increases, but the pressure on the bottom sur-face also increases by the same
amount. As a result, the difference between the forces on the top and bottom surfaces is the same, no matter
how deep the cube is submerged. The buoyant force on the submerged cube is the same at any depth.

Because the cube on the right is deeper, the pressure on its upper
surface is increased due to the weight of the water inside the dashed
lines. The pressure on the bottom surface also increases by this
amount.

Archimedes’ Principle
A way of determining the buoyant force was given by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes more than
2,200 years ago. According to Archimedes’ principle, the buoyant force on an object is equal to the weight of
the fluid it displaces. To understand Archimedes’ principle, think about what happens if you drop an ice cube
in a glass of water that’s filled to the top. The ice cube takes the place of some of the water and causes this
water to overflow. Another way to say this is that the ice cube displaced water that was in the glass. Suppose
you caught all the overflow water and weighed it. According to Archimedes’ principle, the weight of the
overflow, or displaced water, would be equal to the buoyant force on the ice cube. Because the ice cube is
floating, the buoyant force is balanced by the weight of the ice cube. So, the weight of the water that is
displaced, or the buoyant force, is equal to the weight of the ice cube.

10