5.

2 DISCOVERING FORCES

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
 Recognize different examples of forces
 List main types of force
 Represent forces using arrows.

SUCCESS CRITERIA:
Learners will be able to
• Enlist different examples of forces and represent it using
arrows in direction of force
• List main types of force and their effect

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Starter:

Ask the learners to draw or write showing force acting

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What is a force?
A force is a push, pull or twist.

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When a force is exerted on an object, it can:
• make it start moving
• make it speed up (acceleration)
• make it slow down (deceleration / retardation)
• make it stop moving
• change its direction
• change its shape (for example, an elastic band
gets longer if you pull it)

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Name the force

Decide if the following are pushes, pulls or twists.

push writing on paper

push typing on a keyboard

tug-of-war pull
twist
unscrewing the top of a bottle twist

push posting a letter through a door

pull
putting on a pair of socks
twist twist
turning a door handle
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Direction and magnitude of the force
The direction and strength of a
force can be represented by an
arrow.
The arrow points in the direction
of a force.
The length of the arrow tells you
the strength of the force – the
longer the arrow, the greater the
force.

We can show how strong one

force is as compared to another by
using different- sized arrows.
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Combining Forces

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 Combining forces
• When forces act in the same direction, the net
force can be found by adding the strengths of
the individual forces.
• In figure two, the lengths of the two arrows,
which represents two forces, are added
together to find the net force:
--------- --------- = ------------------
5N 5N 10N

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 Combining Forces

• When forces act in opposite directions, they also

combine to produce a net force.
• However, you must pay attention to the direction
of each force.
• Adding a force acting in one direction to a force
acting in the opposite direction is the same as
adding a positive number to a negative number.

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 Combining Forces

• So when two forces act in opposite directions,

they combine by subtraction.
• The net force always acts in the direction of the
greater force.

----- ---------- = -----

5N 10N 5N

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Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Balanced Forces

10 N
10 N

If you link two newton meters and pull equally hard from both
ends, the forces recorded on both will be the same.
We say that the forces acting on the central hooks cancel each
other out - they are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction.
Because the forces are balanced the hooks do not move.
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Forces

unbalanced Forces

11 N 10 N
movement

• What happens if the pull on one end is harder than on the

other?
• The forces acting on the hooks are no longer balanced. Both
hooks will start to move to the left, that is, their speed will
change. This is called acceleration.
• Unbalanced forces lead to a change in speed or direction.
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 ASF
• Sketch a car that is starting to move away
from set of traffic lights. Draw the forces
acting on the car.

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 Plenary:
• Students draw a large triangle with a smaller
inverted triangle inside it.
• In the three outer triangles they write
something they have seen, something
they’ve done and something they’ve
discussed. Then they add in the central
triangle something they have learned.

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