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Physics GCSE > Topic P5 - Forces > Flashcards

Topic P5 - Forces Flashcards

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1
Q

Describe a vector quantity.

A
  • Vector quantities have magnitude and direction
  • Force is a vector quantity as well as; velocity, displacement, acceleration, momentum, etc…
  • Vectors are usually represented by an arrow (the length shows the magnitude and direction of the arrow shows the direction of the quantity)
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2
Q

Describe a scalar quantity.

A
  • Scalar quantities only have magnitude and not direction

- Some scalar quantities are; speed, distance, mass, temperature, time, etc…

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3
Q

What is the contrast in non-contact and contact forces?

A

Non-contact forces;
- the objects do not need to be touching
- eg; magnetic, gravitational, electrostatic…
Contact forces;
- the objects will need to be touching
- eg; friction, air resistance, normal contact force
When two objects interact, there is a force produced on both objects.

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4
Q

Describe gravitational force.

A
  • on the surface of a planet, it makes all things go towards the ground
  • it gives everything a weight
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5
Q

Describe weight.

A
  • weight is the force acting on an object due to gravity
  • it depends on the strength of the gravitational field at the location of the object
  • it is a force that is measured in newtons and is measured by a newtonmeter
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6
Q

How do you calculate the weight?

A

Weight (N) = Mass (kg) x Gravitational Field Strength (N/kg)

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7
Q

What is a resultant force?

A
  • if you have a number of forces that are acting at a single point, you can replace them with a single force
  • the single force is a resultant force
  • if a resultant force moves an object, work is done
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8
Q

How do you calculate work done?

A

Work Done (J) = Force (N) x Distance (m)

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9
Q

What is an equilibrium?

A
  • an object is an equilibrium if the forces on it are balanced
  • (if all of the forces combine to make zero)
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10
Q

Describe how to transfer energy by stretching, compressing and bending.

A
  • when you apply a force to an object, it can cause it to stretch, compress and bend.
  • to do this you will need more than one force acting on the object, because otherwise it will just move rather than change shape.
  • work is done when a force stretches or compresses an object and causes energy to be transferred to the elastic potential energy store of the object.
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11
Q

How do you work out force?

A

Force (N) = Spring Constant (N/m) x Extension (m)

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12
Q

How do you work out the elastic potential energy?

A

Elastic Potential Energy (J) = 1/2 x Spring Constant (N/m) x Extension^2 (m)

Ee = 1/2 x k x e^2

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13
Q

Describe distance and displacement

A
  • Distance is scalar because it doesn’t involve direction
  • Displacement is a vector
  • Displacement measures the distance and direction in a straight line from the object’s starting point to it’s finishing point
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14
Q

Describe speed and velocity.

A
  • Speed and velocity both measure how fast you are going
  • speed is scalar
  • velocity is vector
  • this means that you can have objects travelling at a constant speed with a changing velocity.
  • objects rarely travel at a constant speed, so in this case you will find the average speed during that time.
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15
Q

How do you work out the distance travelled?

A

Distance Travelled (m) = Speed (m/s) x Time (s)

s = v x t

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16
Q

Describe acceleration.

A
  • acceleration is how quickly you’re speeding up
  • it is not the same as speed or velocity
  • acceleration is the change in velocity in a certain amount of time
  • deceleration is just negative acceleration
17
Q

How do you work out the acceleration?

A

Acceleration (m/s^2) = Change in Velocity (m/s) / Time (s)

a = (triangle V) / t

18
Q

What is a distance-time graph?

A
  • if an object moves in a straight line, it’s distance travelled can be plotted on a distance-time graph
  • the steeper the graph, the faster it’s going
  • flat sections is where the object has stopped
  • if the object is changing speed, you can find it’s speed at a point by finding the gradient of the tangent to the curve at that point.
19
Q

How do you work out the speed?

A

Speed = Distance / Time

20
Q

What is a velocity-time graph?

A
  • how an object’s velocity changes as it travels can be plotted on a velocity-time graph
  • flat sections represent steady speed rather than that the object has stopped.
  • if the graph is curved, you can use a tangent to the curve at a point to find the acceleration at that point.
21
Q

Describe friction.

A
  • Friction is always there to slow things down
  • it always acts in the opposite direction to movement
  • to travel at a steady speed, the driving force will need to balance the frictional forces
22
Q

Describe drag.

A
  • drag is the resistance you get in a gas or liquid. (for example air resistance is a type of drag)
  • to reduce drag, you have to keep the shape of the object streamlined
23
Q

What is terminal velocity?

A
  • as the speed of a falling object increases, the friction builds up and then gradually reduces the acceleration until eventually the frictional force is equal to the accelerating force
  • it will have then reached it’s maximum speed or terminal velocity and will fall at a steady speed.
  • terminal velocity depends on shape and area
24
Q

What is Newton’s first law?

A
  • a resultant force is needed to make something start moving, speed up or slow down.
  • a non-zero resultant force will always produce acceleration or deceleration in the direction of the force
  • this acceleration can take five different forms; starting, stopping, speeding up, slowing down and changing direction.
25
Q

What is Newton’s second law?

A
  • The larger the resultant force acting on an object, the more it accelerates - the force and acceleration are directly proportional
  • acceleration is also inversely proportional to the mass of the object - so an object with a larger mass can accelerate less than one with a smaller mass
  • Resultant Force (N) = Mass (kg) x Acceleration (m/s^2)
26
Q

How do you work out the stopping distance?

A

Stopping Distance = Thinking Distance + Braking distance

27
Q

What is stopping distance affected by?

A
  • the thinking distance which is how far the car travels during the driver’s reaction time
  • the braking distance which is how long it takes the car to stop when you have your foot down in the brake
28
Q

What is the thinking distance affected by?

A
  • speed (faster you’re going = further to travel when reacting)
  • reaction time (longer reaction time = longer the thinking distance)
29
Q

What is the braking distance affected by?

A
  • speed
  • weather or the road surface
  • condition of the tyres
  • how good the brakes are
30
Q

How does braking rely on friction?

A
  • When the brake pedal is pushed, it causes the brake pads to press on the wheels which causes friction
  • the faster a vehicle is going, the more energy in it’s kinetic stores of the wheels to the thermal energy of the brakes
31
Q

How can you measure reaction time?

A
  • the drop test
  • you drop a ruler and the other person has to catch it and see how long it took them to react
  • you can then calculate how long your reaction time was and repeat the test
32
Q

How do you work out momentum?

A

Momentum (kg m/s) = Mass (kg) x Velocity (m/s)

p = m x v

33
Q

Describe momentum.

A
  • the greater the mass, or greater the velocity, the more momentum it will have.
  • it is a vector quantity as it has size and direction

Physics GCSE (3 decks)

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