Force Fun
A push or a pull that can cause an object to move, stop, or change direction.
What is a force?
A pencil lying still on a desk has these forces acting on it.
What are balanced forces?
How an object moves from one place to another.
Motion
To use your senses to examine or inspect something.
observe
A swing moves forward and backward because of this.
motion
When you push a shopping cart, you are using this.
What is a force?
A book sits still on a table while gravity pulls downward. This force pushes upward on the book.
What is the table pushing upward?
The rate of motion of an object.
speed
To determine the amount or size of something.
measure
As friction and air resistance act on a swing, the swing moves slower and slower. Eventually, it will do this.
stop moving
Forces that cause an object to speed up, slow down, stop, or change direction are called these.
What are unbalanced forces?
Two teams pull equally hard during tug-of-war, and the rope does not move. The forces are this.
What are balanced forces?
The line or course along which something is moving.
Direction
Information that supports an idea.
evidence
A student wants to test how a person's mass affects motion on a swing. The student should change this from one trial to the next.
What is the size/mass of the person?
A ball is sitting still on the floor. The forces on the ball are most likely these.
What are balanced forces?
A soccer ball is kicked and begins moving. The kick creates these forces.
What are unbalanced forces?
A trapeze eventually stops swinging because these two things slow it down.
What are friction and air resistance?
A design or sequence that repeats.
pattern
Which is the best way to test mass: changing the type of swing, changing the person pushing, changing the chain length, or changing the size of the person?
What is changing the size of the person?
A leaf floating down to the ground shows these kinds of forces because its motion is changing.
What are unbalanced forces?
The forces on an object cause a change in its motion. These forces are called this.
What are unbalanced forces?
A student pulls a swing back 50 cm. Every 5 seconds, it moves 5 cm less. At 0 seconds it moves 50 cm, and at 5 seconds it moves 45 cm. How far will it move at 20 seconds?
What is 30 cm?
How strong something is.
A trapeze artist wants the trapeze to swing more slowly. Changing the weight of the artist or changing the length of the ropes—which should they investigate?
What is the length of the ropes?