Types of Forces
This is the invisible pulling force that keeps our feet on the ground and causes dropped objects to fall toward Earth.
What is gravity?
This scientific term describes the actual amount of matter that makes up an object.
What is mass?
To make a toy car accelerate faster and travel further across a tiled floor, you must apply a ________ force to it.
What is greater? (Accept: stronger/bigger).
When two equal forces push against an object from opposite directions, the forces are described as this.
What is balanced?
Walking on ice is difficult because smooth surfaces like ice create a very ________ amount of friction.
What is small? (Accept: low/minimal).
This force occurs when two surfaces rub against each other, acting in the opposite direction of the motion to slow things down.
What is friction?
If you kick a lightweight soccer ball and a heavy bowling ball with the exact same amount of force, this ball will change its motion much less.
What is the bowling ball?
This term describes a change in an object's position over time compared to a starting reference point.
What is motion?
An object that is sitting completely still will only begin to move if the forces acting on it become this.
What is unbalanced?
This type of thermal energy is always produced as a byproduct of friction, which is why your hands warm up when you rub them together.
What is heat?
Magnetism and gravity belong to this specific group of forces because they can pull or push objects without physically touching them.
What are non-contact forces? (Accept: forces that act at a distance).
Complete the benchmark rule: The more mass an object has, the ________ effect a given force will have on that object's motion.
What is less? (Accept: smaller).
In science, this specific word means any change in an object's motion, which includes speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.
What is acceleration?
In a game of tug-of-war, Team A pulls left with 100 Newtons of force, and Team B pulls right with 100 Newtons of force. This is what happens to the ribbon tied to the center of the rope.
What is nothing? (Accept: It stays perfectly still).
Substances like oil, grease, or water are often used as these to minimize friction between moving parts in a machine.
What are lubricants?
This is the scientific metric unit used to measure the strength or magnitude of a force, named after a famous scientist.
What is a Newton?
To make a fully loaded grocery cart speed up at the exact same rate as an empty grocery cart, you must apply this kind of force to the loaded cart.
What is a greater force? (Accept: more force).
If a student pushes a heavy box to the right with a force of 15 Newtons, and another student helps by pushing the same box to the right with 10 Newtons, this is the total net force.
What is 25 Newtons to the right?
You try to push a heavy couch across the room. Even though you are pushing with all your might, the couch does not move because this opposing force from the floor perfectly balances your push.
What is friction?
It is much easier to move a heavy box across the room if it is on wheels rather than flat on the floor because this specific type of friction is much weaker than sliding friction.
What is rolling friction?
If an asteroid is coasting through deep space at a constant speed where there is absolutely no gravity or friction, this is the total amount of net force acting on it.
What is zero?
This specific property of matter causes objects to resist any change to their current state of motion, meaning heavier objects are both harder to start moving and harder to stop.
What is inertia?
If a constant, steady force is continuously applied to a rolling skateboard on a perfectly frictionless surface, the skateboard will do this.
What is speed up continuously?
A cruise ship is traveling across the ocean at a perfectly constant speed of 20 knots in a straight line. The overall forces acting on the ship are ________.
What is balanced?
Air resistance is a form of friction that depends heavily on this physical trait, which is why a flat sheet of paper falls much slower than a tightly crumpled ball of paper.
What is surface area?