Topic P2- Forces Flashcards
What is the difference between distance and displacement?
- they both measure how far something has travelled,
- but displacement also says which direction something has travelled in.
What are scalar quantities?
-Scalar quantities have a size or magnitude only and need no other information to specify them.
Give examples of some scalar quantities:
- speed
- distance
- mass
- time
What are vector quantities?
Vector quantities have both magnitude and an associated direction.
Give examples of some vector quantities:
- velocity
- displacement
- force
- acceleration
What is the equation for calculating displacement?
displacement (m) = velocity (m/s) x time (s)
What is the equation for calculating distance travelled?
distance travelled (m) = speed (m/s) x time (s)
d ---------- s x t
What is acceleration?
- It is how quickly the velocity is changing.
- The change in velocity can be a CHANGE IN SPEED
- The change in velocity can be a CHANGE IN DIRECTION
- or BOTH
- Acceleration is like velocity; it is a vector and can have a positive or negative value.
- If an object has negative acceleration, it is either slowing down (decelerating) or speeding up in the negative direction.
What is the equation for calculating acceleration?
acceleration (m/s^2) = change in velocity (m/s) ÷ time (s)
How can you calculate the change in velocity?
Always do final velocity - initial velocity
Describe the acceleration of an object travelling in a circle at a constant speed:
An object travelling in a circle at a constant speed has changing velocity (because it is always changing direction) so it is always accelerating.
How can you calculate the distance or velocity of an object that is travelling at uniform acceleration?
(final velocity)^2(m/s)^2. - (initial velocity)^2(m/s)^2. = 2 x acceleration(m/s)^2. x distance(m)
OR!!
v^2 - u^2 = 2 x a x d
Describe an experiment used to investigate the relation between distance, speed and acceleration:
1) Set up apparatus (pg23) mark line on the ramp before the first light gate (makes sure the trolley starts from the same point each time)
2) Measure the distances between light gates 1 and 2, and 2 and 3.
3) Hold the trolley still at the start line and let it go- it will roll down the slope.
4) As it rolls down, it will accelerate. When it reaches the runway, it will travel at a constant speed (ignore friction!)
5) Each light gate will record the time when the trolley passes through it
6) The time it takes to travel between 1 and 2 can be used to calculate the average speed on the ramp,
7) and between gates 2 and 3 gives the speed on the runway (speed= distance ÷ time)
8) The acceleration of the trolley on the ramp can be found using acceleration = change in speed ÷ time
9) The initial speed of the trolley (=0 m/s)
10) The final speed of the trolley (equals the speed of the trolley on the runway)
11) the time it takes the trolley to travel between light gates 1 and 2.
Using the experiment where a trolley is rolled down a ramp to investigate the relation between distance, speed and acceleration, what variables in the experiment could you change to increase the final speed of the trolley?
- the trolley’s acceleration on the ramp and its final speed on the runway will increase when the angle of the ramp increases
- or the amount of friction between the ramp and the trolley decreases.
- Increasing the distance between the bottom of the ramp and where the trolley is released will also increase the final speed of the trolley.
What do distance-time (d-t) graphs tell you about how far something has travelled?
- The gradient at any point gives the speed of the object
- Flat sections are where it’s stopped
- A steeper graph means it’s going faster
- Curves represent acceleration
- A steepening curve means it’s speeding up (increasing gradient)
- A levelling off curve means it’s slowing down (decreasing gradient)
What do velocity-time (v-t) graphs tell you about acceleration?
- Gradient = acceleration
- Flat sections represent steady velocity
- The steeper the graph, the greater the acceleration or deceleration
- Uphill sections (/) are acceleration
- Downhill section () are deceleration
- A curve means changing acceleration
- The area under any section of the graph is equal to the distance travelled in that time interval.
In a velocity-time graph, how can you find the distance-travelled?
-The distance travelled in any time interval is equal to the area under the graph.
What is a contact force?
Give an example of a contact force:
- To exert a contact force, two objects must be touching, e.g. pushing or pulling an object.
- Friction is a contact force- as an object is being pushed a long a surface, there will be friction acting on it in the opposite direction.
What is a non-contact force?
Give examples on non-contact forces:
- Non-contact forces are forces between two objects that aren’t directly touching.
- For example, electrostatic, magnetic and gravitational forces.
What is an interaction pair?
-An interaction pair is a pair of equal and opposite forces acting on two different objects. (Example of Newton’s Third Law)
What is a resultant force?
The overall force on a point or object
-it has the same effect on the motion as the original forces acting altogether.
What do free body diagrams show?
A free body diagram is a diagram of an object with arrows drawn to show the direction and size of the forces acting on the object.
What does a resultant force of zero mean?
-An object with a zero resultant force will either be stationary or moving at a steady speed.
What does a non-zero resultant force mean?
- If there is a non-zero resultant force on an object, then it will either accelerate or decelerate.
- This is because the forces are unbalanced
When is an object in equilibrium?
When all the forces on it are balanced.
What is Newton’s First Law?
An object will remain stationary or at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external resultant force.
What is Newton’s Second Law?
If an object is acted on by an external resultant force, the object will accelerate in proportion with the size of the force and in the direction of the force.
What is Newton’s Third Law?
When two objects interact, the forces they exert on each other are equal and opposite.
What is the formula to calculate the resultant force?
Force (N) = mass (kg) x acceleration (m/s^2)
F= ma
Describe an experiment which can be used to investigate Newton’s Second Law:
1)The acceleration of a trolley on air track can be used to investigate Newton’s Second Law
2)The force acting on the trolley is equal to the weight
(W = M x g) of the hanging mass
3) The hanging mass is released pulling the trolley along the track
4)By measuring the time and speed at which the trolley passes the light gates, the acceleration can be calculated.
5) You can increase the force acting on the trollye by moving one of the masses from the trolley to the hanging mass, and repeating the experiment
6)If you plot your results on a graph of force against acceleration, you should get a straight line, proving that F = ma
What is friction?
- When an object is moving, friction acts in the direction that opposes the movement
- Friction makes objects decelerate and become stationary,
- so you need a driving force to keep moving (thrust)
- Friction occurs between two surfaces in contact (e.g. tyres and the road)
What is drag?
-drag occurs when an object passes through a fluid (e.g. boat through water). Air resistance is a type of drag.
What will happen to the velocity of an object if its driving force is..:
- equal to friction force
- greater than (>) friction force
- less than (
- Equal: the object will move at a steady speed
- Greater than (>): the object will accelerate
- Less than (
Explain how moving vehicles can reach terminal velocity:
- When objects first set off they have more driving force than friction force (resistance),
- so they accelerate.
- But the resistance is directly proportional to the velocity of the object
- resistance ∝velocity
- So, as the velocity increases, the resistance increases as well
- This gradually reduces the acceleration until the friction force is equal to the driving force
- so it doesn’t accelerate any more.
- The forces are balanced (no resultant force).
- The object will have reached its maximum velocity
- or terminal velocity.