Chapter – 11 Force and Pressure

• Force: A push or a pull, that changes or tends to change the state of rest or
uniform motion of an object or changes its direction or shape.

Push
A push is a force exerted away from the body.
e.g: Hitting a snooker ball, kicking a football.

Pull
A pull is a force exerted towards the body.
e.g: drawing a bucket of water from a well, playing tug of war.

• A force arises due to the interaction between two objects.

• Force has magnitude as well as direction.

• A change in the speed of an object or the direction of its motion or

both implies a change in its state of motion.
• Force acting on an object may cause a change in its state of motion
or a change in its shape.

• A force can act on an object with or without being in contact with it.

EFFECT OF FORCE –

i) It may make an object move from rest.

ii) lt may change the speed of an object if it is moving.
iii) l may change the direction of motion of an object.
iv) l may bring about a change in the shape of an object.
v) l may cause some or all of these effects.

• Types of Forces:

• Contact Forces: The forces act on a body when the source of force is in actual
contact with the body.

(i) Muscular Force: The force exerted by the muscles of the body.

(ii) Mechanical Force: The force produced by a machine.

(iii) Frictional force

 The force that opposes the relative motion between two surfaces.

 Acts between the surface of the two bodies in contact.

• Non-Contact Forces: Forces which do not involve physical contact between

two bodies on which they act.

(i) Magnetic Force: A magnet exerts a non-contact force on objects made of

iron, steel, cobalt or nickel.
(ii) Electrostatic Force: The force which result due to repulsion of similar
charges or attraction of opposite charges.

(iii) Gravitational Forces: The force of attraction that exists between any two
objects in the Universe because of their mass.

Vector Quantity -
– Vector quantities are expressed in magnitude as well as the direction of the
object.
E.g: Velocity, displacement, weight, momentum, force, acceleration etc.

Net force

 The resultant of all the forces acting on a body is known as net force.
 The acceleration of the body is along the direction of the net force.
a) If two forces act on a body in the same direction, the net force is
sum of the two forces.
b) If two forces act on a body in opposite directions, the net force is
the difference between the two forces.
 Pressure

 Force acting per unit area is known as pressure.

 P=force / area
 P= F / A
 SI unit is Pascal. (Pa)

• Liquids and gases exert pressure on the walls of their containers.

• The pressure exerted by air around us is known as atmospheric pressure.

If the area is smaller the pressure is more on the surface for the same force.

Eg :- i) It is easier to push a nail into a wooden plank by its pointed

end than its head because the pressure is more.

ii) It is easier to cut vegetables with a sharp knife than a blunt

knife because the pressure is more.

iii) Shoulder bags have broad and not thin straps to reduce pressure.

Distribution of pressure

 Force acting on a smaller area applies more pressure than the

same force acting on a larger area.
 Examples: Porters place a round cloth on their heads to increase
surface area and reduce pressure.
 A sharp knife cuts better as more pressure is exerted over a
smaller area.
Pressure in fluids
The pressure exerted by a fluid (gases or liquids) in a container is
transmitted undiminished in all direction on the walls of the container.

Upthrust
The upward force exerted by a fluid on an object is known as upthrust or
buoyant force.

Atmospheric Pressure

The pressure exerted by air is known as atmospheric pressure.

Gases exert the same pressure on the walls of the container in all directions.
Our atmosphere extends to several kilometres above sea level. The weight of
the air acts as pressure known as atmospheric pressure.

 The pressure in our body balances the atmospheric pressure and that is
why we do not feel it.
We are not crushed under the atmospheric pressure
The force due to air in a column of the height of the atmosphere and area
=15 cm × 15 cm is nearly equal to the force of gravity on an object of mass 225
kg (2250N).
The reason we are not crushed under this force of gravity is that the pressure
inside our bodies is also equal to the atmospheric pressure and balances the
pressure from outside.

Otto von Guericke, a German scientist of the 17th century, invented a

pump to extract air out of a vessel.
He joined two hollow metallic hemispheres of 51 cm diameter each and
pumped air out of them.
Then he employed eight horses on each hemisphere to pull them apart .
So LARGE is the force of air pressure that the hemispheres could not be
pulled apart.

Write activity for –

a) Pressure exerted by water at the bottom of the container depends on
the height of its column.
b) A liquid exerts pressure on the walls of the container
c) Liquids exert equal pressure at the same depth.