P5 Flashcards
Vector quantity
- has magnitude and a direction.
- force, velocity, displacement, acceleration, momentum, etc.
Scalar quantity
- only have magnitude.
- speed, distance, mass, temperature, time, etc.
Vectors
- Usually represented by an arrow: length of the arrow shows the magnitude.
- Direction shows the direction of the quantity.
Contact Forces
When two objects have to be touching for a force to act.
Eg. Friction, air resistance, tension in ropes, normal contact force etc.
Non Contact Forces
The objects don’t need to be touching for the force to act.
Eg. Magnetic force, gravitational force, electrostatic force.
Force
A push or pull on an object that is caused by it interacting with something.
An interaction pair
A pair of forces that are equal and opposite and act on two interacting objects.
Sun and Earth example.
The sun and earth are attracted to each other by the gravitational force.
This is non contact force.
An equal but opposite force of attraction is felt by both the sun and the earth.
Chair example
A chair exerts a force on the ground, whilst the ground pushes back at the chair with the same force (normal contact force).
Equal but opposite forces are felt by both the chair and the ground.
Gravitational Force
Gravity attracts all masses - it’s only noticeable when on of the masses is really big (eg a planet).
Anything near a planet or star is attracted to it very strongly.
2 important effects:
. On the surface of a planet, it makes all things fall towards the ground.
. It gives everything a weight.
Distance
- how far an object has moved.
- scalar quantity, doesn’t involve direction.
Displacement
- vector quantity.
- measures the distance and direction in a straight line from an objects starting point to its finishing point.
- the direction could be to do with a point, eg, towards school, or a bearing (a three digit angle from north, eg 035 degrees)
Spring practical 1
1) measure natural length of spring (when nothing is applied) with a ruler clamped to the stand. Take the reading at eye level and add a marker to the bottom of spring to make the reading more accurate.
2) add a mass to the spring and allow it to come to rest. Record mass and measure new length of spring. The extension is the change in length.
Spring practical 2
3) repeat process until you have enough measurement.
4) plot a force extension graph of your results. It’ll only start to curve if you exceed the limit of proportionality.
Straight line of best fit=linear relationship.
When line bends=non linear
Applying a force…
- May cause object to stretch,compress of bend
- To do so, you need more than one force acting on the object.
- Otherwise the object would simply move in the direction of the applied force instead of changing shape.
Elastic Objects
Objects that can be elastically deformed.
An object has been elastically deformed if it can go back to its original shape and length after the force is removed.
An object has been inelastically deformed if it doesn’t return to its original shape+length after the force is removed
Work is done when
A force stretches/compresses an object and causes energy to be transferred to the EP energy store of object.
If elastically deformed, ALL this energy is transferred to the objects EP energy store.
Extension is directly proportional to force
Spring supported at top with a weight at the bottom STRETCHES.
- Extension of stretched spring/ is directly proportional to the load/force applied.
- Spring constant depends on material stretching - stiffer spring, greater spring constant.
Force équation
Force=spring constant x extension.
Also works for compression, instead of extension, it’s the difference between the natural and compressed lengths.