Describe the effects of forces between bodies such as changes in speed, shape or direction

Identify different types of forces such as gravitational or electrostatic

Forces:

 Push or a pull that acts on an object due to the interaction with another object and is
measured in Newtons

Contact forces:

 Occurs when two objects are physically touching

Examples:

 Normal force – perpendicular force acting on object opposing to the direction of gravity
 Friction – force that opposes motion
 Air resistance/ drag – friction between air particles
 Tension – force on object when being stretched

Non – Contact forces:

 Occurs when two objects are physically separated

Examples:

 Gravity – attractive downward force

 Electrostatic – force of attraction between charges
 Magnetic force – force caused by magnetic attraction

Understand how vector quantities differ from scalar quantities

Scalar:

 Has magnitude (size) but no direction

Examples:

 Distance
 Speed
 Time
 Energy
 Mass

Vector:
  Has magnitude (size) and direction
 Is represented with line, the arrow represents direction and length represents size

Examples:

 Weight
 Displacement
 Velocity
 Acceleration
 Momentum
 Force

Calculate the resultant force of forces that act along a line

Resultant Forces:

 Is a single force that has the same effect as all of the original forces acting together

Calculating Resultant Forces in straight Line:

Forward force = 20 N

Friction = 10 N

20 N – 10 N = 10 N  Resultant force experienced by box

Forces in Plane:
Note: Plane is at constant altitude and velocity

 Plane experiences downward force acting on its mass

(weight)
 Since the plane is at constant altitude, this means that
it experiences an upward force equal to the downward
force (lift)
 Plane experiences forward force (thrust)
 Since plane is travelling at constant velocity, its drag
(air resistance) is equal to its thrust

Know the initial linear region of a force- extension graph is associated with Hooke’s law
 A force extension graph tells us how much the spring has stretched against how much force was
applied.

Hooke’s Law:

The diagonal line shows that force and extension are proportional. It tells us that as force increase,
extension increase. (F = K X)

 The graph would curve, which shows us its elastic limit has been reached. 
 The curve shows that the object has reached its elastic potential.

Describe elastic behaviour as the ability of a material to recover its original shape after the
forces causing deformation have been removed

Changing Shapes:

 If a force is applied to an elastic band, its shape changes, the band stretches and gets longer
 When tension is applied, objects stretch, when you compress them, the length shortens
 Materials like glass are brittle meaning they don’t change shape easily, breaking rather than
stretching
 Resilient or elastic materials such as rubber don’t break easily, and return into its original shape,
as long as the force applied doesn’t go past the elastic limit

Springs and wires:

 Springs are coiled lengths of metal which can be stretched in compressed by applying a force
 They obey Hooke’s law which states that the force applied to the spring is proportional to its
distance (increase of length of spring)
 If spring is stretched beyond elastic limit, it deforms the spring

Know and use the relationship between unbalanced force, mass and acceleration
 Force = mass x acceleration (Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion)

 When the same force is applied to objects with different mass, the smaller mass will
experience a greater acceleration
 Different sized forces are applied to objects with the same mass; the large force
produces a greater acceleration than the smaller force

Know and use the relationship between weight, mass and gravitational field strength

Weight = mass (Kg) x gravitational field strength (N/Kg)

Weight:

 Weight = force of gravity acting on a mass; alters depending on gravity

 Gravitational field strength = measure of gravitational force in any particular location
o Gravitational field strength in earth = 9.8 N
 Therefore, when object is on the centre of the earth, every Kg of its mass experiences
9.8 N force

Mass:

 Amount of matter in an object

 Stays the same, regardless of the gravitational field strength it experiences
 Weight is directly proportional to mass; as mass increases so does weight

Centre of Mass:

 Weight of the object (force due to gravity) can be considered to act at a single point
known as centre of mass

Know the stopping distance of a vehicle

 Stopping distance is a total distance travelled during the driver’s reaction time and
distance when breaks are applied

Stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance

 Thinking distance = reaction time (thinking time) x constant speed

 As speed increases, stopping distance increases, and as mass increases, force needed to
stop car increases (F=ma). (Assume same breaking force is applied)

Describe the factors affecting vehicle stopping distance, including speed, mass, road condition
and reaction time
 Stopping distance is affected both by: Thinking distance and Breaking Distance

Factors affecting thinking distance:

 The condition of the driver; drugs/ tiredness (thinking distance)

 Greater speed
 Distractions in the car (i.e. mobile phone)

Factors affecting breaking distance:

 Weather = Wet or icy conditions reduces friction, increasing distance; Dry weather
makes roads dry, increasing friction

 How worn the brakes/ tyres are (worn brakes or tyres reduces friction
 Car’s heaviness and speed that it travels
o As speed increases, stopping distance increases, and as mass increases, force needed to
stop car increases (F=ma). 

Describe the forces acting on falling objects (and explain why falling objects reach terminal
velocity)

5
4

3
6
2
7
1 8

1. Only force experienced by object is weight, causing it to 5. Parachute is used; increases air resistance
accelerate due to increased surface area
2. As object falls, it experiences air resistance, but force of 6. Causes air resistance to be greater than
weight is still greater causing it to still accelerate the weight causing the object to
3. As the velocity of the object increases (accelerates) it decelerate, reducing air resistance
causes the air resistance to increase 7. Air resistance then balances the weight,
4. The object undergoes terminal velocity, where air causing the resultant force to be zero,
Know and use the relationship between momentum, mass and velocity
resistance and downward force of weight are equal undergoing a lower terminal velocity
(velocity stays constant, resultant force of zero)
Momentum = mass (Kg) x velocity
8. Object
(m/s)
lands
  More mass the object has, the more momentum it will have when moving, the
momentum of a moving object also increases with its speed
 Stationary objects don’t have momentum because it has zero velocity

Use the conservation law of momentum to calculate the mass, velocity or momentum of
objects

Momentum (before) = Momentum (after)

M1 (V1) = M2 (V2)

*Types of Collisions:

Use the relationship between force, change in momentum and time taken

Force = (mass x change in velocity)/ time

Origin of formula:

F = m (a)  a = (v - u)/ t  F = (m x ∆v)/ time; where m x ∆v = change in momentum

Use the idea of momentum to explain safety features

Context:

 Rapid changes in momentum may lead to huge amount of forces to be applied which
can be fatal
 This can be reduced by increasing the time it takes for the change of momentum to
occur as shown in the formula: force = (mass x change in velocity)/ time
 Reducing time reduces the forces acting on an object which reduces the risk of damage

Safety devices which slow down momentum change:

 Air bags
  Seatbelts
 Cushioned surface
 Spongey mats
 Helmets

Demonstrate an understanding of Newton’s third law

‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’

Know and use the relationship between the movement of a force and its perpendicular
distance from the pivot

Moment (Nm) = force (N) x perpendicular distance from the pivot (m)

Moment:

 Turning effect of forces; the tendency to cause an object to rotate around a specific
point

Balanced Moments:

Sum of anticlockwise moments = sum of clockwise moments