Forces Flashcards
What is a contact force?
When two objects have to be touching for a force to act.
What is a non-contact force?
When the objects do not have to be touching for the force to act.
What is a vector quantity?
Quantities that have a magnitude and a direction.
What is a scalar quantity?
Quantities that only have magnitude and no direction.
Give 3 examples of vector quantities.
Any 3 from: force, velocity, displacement, acceleration, momentum.
Give 3 examples of scalar quantities.
Any 3 from: speed, distance, mass, temperature, time.
How are vectors usually represented?
By an arrow - the length shows the magnitude, and the direction shows the direction of the quantity.
What is a force?
A push or pull on an object that is caused by it interacting with something.
Give 3 examples of contact forces.
Any 3 from: friction, air resistance, tension in ropes, normal contact force.
Give 3 examples of non-contact forces.
Magnetic force, gravitational force, electrostatic force.
What is an interaction pair?
A pair of forces that are equal and opposite and act on two interacting objects.
What is the equation linking, mass, weight and gravitational field strength?
Weight (N) = Mass (kg) x Gravitational field strength (N/kg)
What is a resultant force?
The overall force on a point or object.
What type of diagrams show all the forces acting on an object?
Free Body Diagrams.
What is work done?
When a force moves on an object through a distance, energy is transferred and work is done on the object.
What is the equation linking force, work done and distance?
Work done (J) = Force (N) x Distance (m)
What type of drawings can you use to find resultant forces?
Scale drawings.
How do you draw a scale drawing for a resultant force?
- Draw all the forces acting on an object to scale.
- Draw a straight line from the start of the first force to the end of the last force (the resultant force).
- Measure the length of the resultant force on the diagram to find the magnitude and the angle to find the direction.
Complete the sentence: An object is in e____________ if the forces on it are b___________.
Equilibrium, Balanced
What does it mean for an object to be in equilibrium?
When all of the forces acting on an object combine to give a resultant force of zero.
What does it mean for an object to be elastically deformed?
It can go back to its original shape and length after the force has been removed, e.g. a spring.
What does it mean for an object to be inelastically deformed?
If it cannot return to its original shape and length after the force has been removed.
Complete the sentence: Extension is d__________ p________ to force.
Directly proportional.
What is the equation linking extension, force and spring constant.
Force (N) = Spring constant (N/m) x Extension (m)
What does the spring constant depend on?
The material you are stretching. A stiffer spring has a great spring constant.
Complete the sentence: There is a l______ to the amount of force you can apply to an object for the extension to keep on i______________ p______________.
limit, increasing proportionally.
What is the limit of proportionality in force and extension?
There is a maximum force above which the graph curves, showing that extension is no longer proportional to force.
What is the unit for spring constant?
N/m
Give the method for the required practical, investigating the link between force and extension.
- Measure the natural length of the spring (with no mass), using a millimetre ruler clamped to the stand.
- Add a mass to the spring and allow the spring to come to rest. Record the mass and measure the new length of the spring. The extension is the change in length.
- Repeat this process until you have enough measurements.
How can you make the required practical on force and extension more accurate?
- Make sure you take the reading at eye level and add a marker to the bottom of the spring to make the reading more accurate.
- Repeat and calculate a mean.
What is the equation linking spring constant, elastic potential energy and extension?
Elastic potential energy (J) = 0.5 x spring constant (N/m) x extension^2 (m)
How can you calculate the energy stored in a springs elastic potential energy store?
Ee = 1/2ke^2
What is a moment?
The turning effect of a force.
How can you calculate the moment of a force?
Moment (Nm) = Force (N) x Distance (m)
Explain how a moment works using a spanner and nut as an example.
- The force on the spanner causes a turning effect or moment on the nut (which acts as a pivot). A larger force or longer distance (spanner) would mean a larger moment.
- To get the maximum moment, you need to push at right angles to the spanner. Pushing at any other angle means a smaller distance and so a smaller moment.
What does it mean if the total anticlockwise moment equals the total clockwise moment about a pivot?
The object is balanced and wont turn.
What do levers do?
They make it easier to do work. They increase the distance from the pivot at which the force is applied meaning less force is needed to get the same moment.
What do gears do?
Transmit rotational effects.
What are gears?
Circular discs with ‘teeth’ around their edges. The teeth interlock so that turning one causes another to turn in the opposite direction. They transmit the rotational effect of a force from one place to another.
What is pressure?
The force per unit area.
What are fluids?
Substances that can flow because their particles are able to move around.
What does the pressure of a fluid mean?
The force is exerted normal (at right angles) to any surface in contact with the fluid.
How can you calculate the pressure at the surface of a fluid?
Pressure (Pa) = Force normal to a surface (N) / Area of that surface (m^2)