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Physics > Forces > Flashcards

Forces Flashcards

1
Q

Scalar quantities

A

Have magnitude only

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2
Q

Vector quantities

A

Have magnitude and direction

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3
Q

How to represent vector quantities

A
  • arrow
  • length represents magnitude
  • direction represents direction
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4
Q

Force

A

Push/pull on object, caused by it interacting with something

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5
Q

Force quantity

A

Vector

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6
Q

Types of force

A
  • contact
  • non-contact
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7
Q

Contact force

A

When 2 objects have to touch for a force to act

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8
Q

Contact forces

A
  • friction
  • air resistance
  • tension
  • normal contact force
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9
Q

Non-contact force

A

When objects don’t need to be touching for force to act

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10
Q

Non-contact forces

A
  • gravitational force
  • electrostatic force
  • magnetic force
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11
Q

What happens when 2 objects interact

A

A force is produced on both objects

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12
Q

Interaction pair

A

Pair of forces equal and opposite and act on two interacting objects

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13
Q

Gravitational force

A

Force of attraction between masses

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14
Q

Weight

A

Force acting on object due to gravity

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15
Q

Why is there a force of gravity

A

Due to gravitational field strength around Earth

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16
Q

Effects of gravity

A
  • gives everything weight
  • on surface of planet, makes all things fall to ground
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17
Q

Mass

A

amount of ‘stuff’ in an object

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18
Q

What does weight depends on

A

Gravitational field strength at location of object

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19
Q

Unit of weight

A

Newtons (N)

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20
Q

Centre of mass

A

Single point on object where weight force acts on it

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21
Q

Relationship between object’s weight and mass

A

Directly proportinal

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22
Q

How is weight measured

A

With a newtonmeter - calibrated spring balance

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23
Q

Resultant force

A

Single force that has same effect as all original forces acting together

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24
Q

What happens when a force moves an object through a distance

A

Energy is transferred + work is done on object

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25
Q

What must happen to make something move

A

A force must be applied

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26
Q

What does thing applying force need

A

Source of energy

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27
Q

When has 1 joule of work been done

A

When a force of 1N causes an object to move a distance of 1 metre

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28
Q

What is 1 Nm equal to

A

1J

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29
Q

How to use scale drawings to find resultant forces

A
  • draw all forces acting on object ‘tip-to-tail’
  • draw straight line from start of 1st force to end of last force - this is resultant force
  • measure length of resultant force + angle measured clockwise from north
  • ‘resultant force is N on a bearing of °’
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30
Q

When is object in equallibrium

A

If all forces acting on object combine to give resultant force of 0

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31
Q

How to know object is in equilibrium on scale drawing

A

Tip of last force ends where tail of first force begins

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32
Q

Resolving a force

A
  • done if object is not acting horizontally/vertically
  • split force into 2 components - horizontal + vertical
  • acting together, components have same effect as same force
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33
Q

Elastic deformation

A

Object has been elastically deformed if it can go back to original shape + length after force removed

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34
Q

Elastic objects

A

Objects that can be elastically deformed

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35
Q

Inelastic deformation

A

Object has been elastically deformed if it doesn’t return to its original shape + length after force has been removed

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36
Q

What kind of deformation has all energy go to elastic potential store

A

When an object is elastically deformed

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37
Q

How does spring’s stiffness affect spring constant

A

Stiffer springs have greater spring constant

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38
Q

Limit of proportionality

A

Maximum force, above which extension is no longer proportional to force (graph will curve upwards)

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39
Q

Link between force/extension PRACTICAL

A
  • apparatus - spring, ruler, clamp, tape, weighted stand, hanging mass, extra masses
  • measure mass of each mass and find weight (w=mg)
  • measure natural length of spring with no load applied with ruler clamped to stand, add marker (tape)
  • add mass to spring and let it come to rest, record mass + new length of spring - extension is change is length
  • repeat until there are at least 6 measurements
  • plot force-extension graph
  • when graph is straight line, gradient is spring constant
  • when graph curves - relationship is non-linear - reached limit of proportionality
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40
Q

Distance

A

How far an object has moved

41
Q

Distance quantity

A

Scalar

42
Q

Displacement

A

Distance and direction in straight line from object’s starting to finishing point

43
Q

Displacement quantity

A

Vector

44
Q

Speed

A

How fast you’re going with no regard to direction

45
Q

Velocity

A

Speed in a given direction

46
Q

Speed/velocity of object moving in circle

A
  • constant speed
  • constantly changing velocity
  • e.g- car going round roundabout
47
Q

Typical person walking speed

A

1.5 m/s

48
Q

Typical person running speed

A

3 m/s

49
Q

Typical person cycling speed

A

6 m/s

50
Q

Typical car speed

A

25 m/s

51
Q

Typical train speed

A

30 m/s

52
Q

Typical plane speed

A

250 m/s

53
Q

Speed of sound

A

330 m/s

54
Q

Factors affecting speed people move at

A
  • fitness
  • age
  • terrain
55
Q

Factors affecting speed of sound

A

What sound waves are travelling through

56
Q

Factors affecting speed of wind

A
  • temperature
  • atmospheric pressure
  • if there are large structures nearby
57
Q

Uniform acceleration

A

Speeding up or at a constant rate (constant acceleration)

58
Q

Deceleration

A
  • negative acceleration
    -object slowing down
59
Q

What does gradient represent on distance-time graph

A

Speed

60
Q

What does flat section represent of distance-time graph

A

Stationary

61
Q

What to straight uphill sections represent on distance-time graphs

A

Travelling at steady speed

62
Q

What do steepening curves represent of distance-time graphs

A

Acceleration

63
Q

What do levelling off curves represent on distance-time graphs

A

Deceleration

64
Q

How to find speed at a point during acceleration on distance-time graphs

A
  • draw tangent to point you want
  • find gradient of tangent
65
Q

What does gradient represent on velocity-time graphs

A

Acceleration

66
Q

What do flat sections represent on velocity-time graphs

A

Travelling at steady speed

67
Q

What do uphill sections represent on velocity-time graphs

A

Constant acceleration

68
Q

What do downhill sections represent on velocity-time graphs

A

Constant deceleration

69
Q

What does a curve represent on velocity-time graphs

A

Changing acceleration

70
Q

How to find distance travelled on velocity-time graph

A

Area under a section of graph (or all of it) is distance travelled for that time interval

71
Q

What direction does friction act in

A

Opposite direction to movement

72
Q

How to reduce friction

A

Lubricant

73
Q

When does friction occur

A
  • between 2 forces in contact
  • when object passes through fluid
74
Q

Streamlining

A

Designing object to allow fluid to flow easily across it, reducing drag resistance

75
Q

How does streamlining affect terminal velocity

A

Less streamlined = lower terminal velocity

76
Q

What happens to object moving through fluid

A
  • initially accelerates due to gravitational force being greater than frictional force slowing it down
  • speed increases - friction builds up
  • friction reduces acceleration until frictional force equal to accelerating force - resultant force is 0
  • terminal velocity has been reached - object will fall at steady speed
77
Q

What can affect terminal velocity

A
  • shape (streamlining)
  • area
78
Q

How does area affect terminal velocity

A

Objects with large surface area tend to have lower terminal velocity

79
Q

Newton’s first law

A
  • if resultant force on stationary object is 0, object will remain stationary
  • if resultant force on moving object is 0, it will continue moving at same velocity
80
Q

Inertia

A

Tendency of objects to continue in their state of rest
or of uniform motion until acted upon by resultant force

81
Q

Inertial mass

A
  • measure of how difficult it is to change the
    velocity of an object
  • ratio of force over acceleration
82
Q

Newton’s second law

A

Acceleration of an object is proportional to the resultant force acting on the object, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object

83
Q

Newton’s third law

A

When 2 objects interact, the forces they exert on each other are equal and opposite

84
Q

Mass/force/acceleration PRACTICAL

A
  • clamp pulley to end of ramp, add mass + attach string to trolley, calc force acting on trolley (w=mg)
  • set up light gates at top + bottom, measure distance between with ruler
  • put 10cm card in trolley
  • let trolley go - light gates record initial/final V + time taken
  • calc change in V (final-initial)
  • calc acceleration - a=ΔV÷t
  • repeat trolley journey removing 1kg from trolley and adding to pulley for 5 values
  • plot graph of f against a
85
Q

Stopping distance

A

Sum of distance vehicle travels during driver’s reaction time (thinking distance) + distance it travels under braking force (braking distance)

86
Q

Emergency stop

A

Maximum force is applied to brakes in order to stop car in shortest possible distance

87
Q

Factors affecting thinking distance

A
  • speed
  • reaction time
88
Q

Factors affecting breaking distance

A
  • speed
  • weather / road surface
  • tyre condition
  • brakes quality
89
Q

How can weather / road surface affect braking distance

A

Wet/icy/oily road means less friction between tyres and road, can cause tyres to skid

90
Q

How can tyre condition affect braking distance

A

Bald tryes (have no tread left) - can’t get rid of water in wet conditions, can skid on water

91
Q

How can brakes quality affect braking distance

A

Worn/faulty brakes won’t apply as much force as well-maintained brakes

92
Q

How do brakes work

A
  • brake pedal pushed - brake pads pressed onto wheels
  • contact causes friction, causing work to be done
  • work done between brakes/wheels transfers energy from wheels’ kinetic store to brakes’ thermal store
93
Q

When is greater braking force needed

A

When a vehicle is going faster and there is more energy in it’s kinetic store - more work needs to be done to stop it

94
Q

Why can large braking forces be dangerous

A

Large braking force means large deceleration - can cause brakes to overheat of vehicle to skid

95
Q

Typical range of human reaction times

A

0.2 s - 0.9 s

96
Q

Factors affecting reaction tm

A
  • tiredness
  • alcohol
  • distractions
97
Q

How to measure reaction time

A
  • do ruler drop test multiple times and take average distance
  • calc change in velocity of ruler with v² - u² = 2as
  • calc reaction time with a=Δv ÷ t
98
Q

Momentum quantity

A

Vector

99
Q

Conservation of momentum

A

In closed system, total momentum before event is equal to total momentum after event

Physics (6 decks)

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