UNIT 3 FORCES AND

ENERGY
3.1 FORCES AND MOTION

Learning objectives
 Understand what is meant by balanced and unbalanced forces
 Describe the effects of balanced forces on motion
 Describe the effects of unbalanced forces on motion
 BALANCED FORCES

 When an object is stationary

(doesn’t move) means the forces
are balanced.
 Balanced forces means that are
equal in size and have opposite
direction.
 The forces are also balanced when
an object moves with a constant
speed
 The length of the arrow show the
size of the force and the direction.
 Balanced forces cause no change
in motion
UNBALANCED
FORCES
 Unbalanced forces are the forces which
they are not equal.
 Unbalanced forces cause change in
movement
 They can a) speed objects up,
b) Slow objects down and c) change
them direction
Unbalanced forces
 The force of gravity on the
Moon is a constant unbalanced
force.
 The direction of an object
moving in a circular path
always changing.
 Hence a constant unbalanced
force is needed to keep the
object orbiting in a circle
3.2 SPEED

Learning objectives
 Understand what is meant by speed
 Learn about the unit of speed
 Be able to calculate speed
SPEED

average speed = distance

 time

In physics speed is usually

measured in:
metres per second (m/s)
SPEED

also:
distance =𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 ×
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆
distance

and:
𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
time = speed time
𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅
Conversion from km/h to m/s

1 kilometre per hour (km/h)

= 1000 metres per hour
but 1 hour = 3600 seconds
therefore 1 km/h = 1000m ÷ 3600 s
1 km/h = 0.28 m/s
and 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h
 Question 1

Calculate the average speed of a car that covers

500m in 20s.
average speed = distance
time
= 500m / 20s
= 25 m/s
 Question 2

Sound waves travel at about 340m/s through air.

How far will a sound wave travel in one minute?
distance = speed x time
= 340 m/s x 1 minute
= 340 m/s x 60 seconds
= 20 400 m
 Complete
distance time average speed
60 m 3s 20
20 m/s
1400 m 35 s 40 m/s
300 m 0.20 s 1500 m/s
80 km 2h 40 km/h
40
150 x 10 6 km 88 min 20 s 3.0 x 108 m/s
1 km 3.03 s 330 m/s
 3.3 DESCRIBING MOVEMENT

Learning objectives
 Learn how to use graphs to describe movement
 Understand what a distance/time graph shows
 Learn to draw a distance/time graph
Distance-time graphs
The slope of a distance-time graph
increases with speed.

distance

time
The slope of a
distance-time graph is
equal to the speed.

In the graph opposite:

slope = 150m / 10s
= 15 m/s
= speed
Question 2
Describe the motion of the three lorries X,
Y and Z shown in the graph below.
Lorry X:
Moving quickest
speed = 45000m / 1800s = 25 m/s

Lorry Y:
speed = 36000m / 1800s = 20 m/s

Lorry Z:
Moving slowest
0 to 600s; speed = 10000m / 600s = 16.7 m/s
600 to 1200s; stationary
1200 to 1800s; speed = 16.7 m/s
average speed = 20000m / 1800s = 11.1 m/s
Question 3
Describe the motion of the vehicle
shown in the graph.
3.4 TURNING FORCES

Learning objectives
 Recognise when a force causes something to turn
 Know how to use the term moment
 Be able to calculate the moment caused by a force
The moment of a force
Also known as the turning effect of a force.

The moment of a force about any point is

defined as:

moment = force x perpendicular distance

from the pivot
Force F exerting an
moment = F x d ANTICLOCKWISE
moment through the
Unit: newton-metre (Nm) spanner on the nut

Moments can be either CLOCKWISE or

ANTICLOCKWISE
Question
Calculate the moment exerted with
the claw hammer if the person
exerts a force of 80N and distance d
equals 25cm.

moment = F x d
= 80N x 25cm
= 80N x 0.25m
= 20 Nm CLOCKWISE
Complete: Answers
Force (N) Distance Moment (Nm)
40 3m 120
120
200 5m
m 1000
50
50 4m 200
3000 20 cm 600
600
The principle of moments
When an object is not turning (e.g. balanced):
The total clockwise moment equals the total
anticlockwise moment

If the ruler above is balanced:

clockwise moment = anticlockwise moment
W2 x d 2 = W 1 x d 1
TRIPLE ONLY

Question 1

On a see-saw Mary, weight 600N balances John, weight

200N when she sits 1.5m away from the pivot. How far from
the pivot is John?
Applying the principle of moments:
Mary’s weight x distance = John’s weight x distance
600N x 1.5m = 200N x distance
900 = 200 x distance
900 ÷ 200 = distance
John is 4.5m from the pivot
TRIPLE ONLY

Complete for a balanced ruler:

W1 d1 W2 d2
5N 20 cm 10 N 10 cm
4N 15 cm 6N 10 cm
6N 12 cm
12 cm 2N 36 cm
88 N
N 25 cm 2N 100 cm
3.5 PRESSURE BETWEEN SOLIDS

Learning objectives
 Recognise that forces can cause pressure on an area
 Understand what affects pressure
 Be able to calculate the pressur caused by a force on an area
Pressure, p
𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆
𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 =
𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂

𝑭
𝒑=
𝑨

units:
force, F – newtons (N)
area, A – metres squared (m2)
pressure, p – pascals (Pa)
also:
force = pressure x area
F
and:
area = force
pressure
p A

Note:
1 Pa is the same as 1 newton per square metre (N/m2)
Question 1
Calculate the pressure exerted by a force of
200N when applied over an area of 4m2.

p=F/A
= 200N / 4m2
pressure = 50 Pa
 Question 2
Calculate the force exerted by a gas of
pressure 150 000 Pa on an object of surface
area 3m2.

p=F/A
becomes:
F=pxA
= 150 000 Pa x 3 m2
force = 450 000 N
 Question 3
Calculate the area that will experience a
force of 6000N from a liquid exerting a
pressure of 300kPa.

p=F/A
becomes:
A=F/p
= 6000 N ÷ 300 kPa
= 6000 N ÷ 300 000 Pa
area = 0.02 m2
Complete:
force area pressure
40 N 8 m2 5 Pa
500 N 20 m2 25 Pa
400 N 5 m2 80 Pa
20 N 2 cm2 100 kPa
6N 2 mm2 3 MPa
Pressure exerted by a block question
The metal block, shown opposite, has a
weight of 900 000N. Calculate the maximum
and minimum pressures it can exert when
placed on one of its surfaces.
2m
Maximum pressure occurs when the block is
placed on its smallest area surface (2m x
3m)
p=F/A
= 900 000N / 6m2 5m
Maximum pressure = 150 000 Pa 3m

Minimum pressure occurs when the block is

placed on its largest area surface (3m x 5m)
p=F/A
= 900 000N / 15m2
Minimum pressure = 60 000 Pa
 Why off-road vehicles have
large tyres or tracks

In both cases the area of contact with the ground is maximised.

This causes the pressure to be minimised as:
pressure = vehicle weight ÷ area
Lower pressure means that the vehicle does not sink into the ground.
3.6 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS AND GASES

Learning objectives
 Recall how particles move in liquids and gases
 Understand how particle movement causes pressure in liquids and gases
 Predict how changes in liquids and gases affect the pressure
Pressure in
liquids
 The pressure in liquid increases with
depth .
 This is happening because as you go
deeper in a liquid more liquid is
above you.
 Hence the weight of the liquid above
you is greater.
 The weight of the liquid pushes the
particles.
 The force of the particles is greater
therefore the pressure is greater.
 The particles in liquids move in
random therefore the pressure is
equal in all directions
How a gas exerts pressure
 A gas consists of molecules in
constant random motion.
 When a molecule collides with
a surface it reverses direction
due to the force exerted on it
by the surface.
 The molecule in turn exerts a
force back on the surface.
 The pressure exerted by the gas
is equal to the total force
exerted by the molecules on a
particular area of the surface
divided by the area.
 pressure = force / area
Pressure in
gases
 The more particles there are
in the gas , the more
collisions happen with the
walls.
 More collisions means
greater force is acted on
the walls of the balloon.
 Greater force acted on a
surface area ,greater is
pressure.
e.g tyre
Pressure and depth in gases

 The pressure in a gas increases with depth

 The Earth’s atmosphere is made from gases.
 The atmosphere extends up to 400km
above the sea level.
 Sea level is where the atmosphere is at the
deepest. The atmospheric pressure at sea
level is the highest (100000 Pa)
 As you go higher the atmospheric pressure
decreases for two reasons
I. The number of particles per 𝑚3 decreases
II. The weight above your current position
decreases
Atmospheric pressure
Gas pressure and temperature
As temperature increases:
 particles move faster
 the speed of the particles Cold
increases gas
 particles gain greater kinetic
energy
 exerting a greater force
 produce a greater pressure
Hot
e.g. pressure cooker gas
3.7 PARTICLES ON THE MOVE

Learning objectives
 Describe how random movement of particles causes diffusion
 Understand how diffusion happens in liquids and gases
Diffusion

 If two gases are mixed in a

container , each one will have
particles move randomly.
 Each gas will spread to fill the
container. The movement of the
particles is called diffusion
 Diffusion is the overall random
movement of particles from an
area where they are higher
concentration to an area where
they are in lower concentration
Diffusion
Diffusion in liquids
Speed of diffusion

The speed of diffusion depends on

1. The difference in concentration of
the particles.The greater the difference
in the concentration of the particles, the
faster the diffusion.

2. Temperature.The higher the

temperature , the faster the diffusion. The
particles move faster at higher
temperatures, so they spread out faster,