Types of Forces
Any push or pull exerted on an object that can change its motion.
What is a force?
The tendency of an object to resist any change in its state of motion.
What is inertia?
Newton’s Second Law connects force, mass, and this measure of how quickly velocity changes.
What is acceleration?
Newton’s Third Law states that for every action force, there is an equal and __________ reaction force.
What is opposite?
In the balloon rocket experiment, releasing air backward pushes the balloon forward. This directly demonstrates which of Newton’s Laws?
What is Newton's 3rd Law?
The contact force exerted by a surface perpendicular to an object resting on it (for example, a table holding up a book).
What is the normal force?
The physical property of matter that determines how much inertia an object has.
What is mass?
The mathematical formula used to calculate net force.
What is Force = Mass × Acceleration
F = M x A
A = F/M
M = F/A
When you push off a solid wall while swimming, the wall exerts a force back on you in this direction.
What is forward (or away from the wall)?
In the balloon lab, blowing up a larger balloon causes it to travel a greater distance because it stores more air pressure, creating a larger ________ force.
What is action (or thrust) force?
A non-contact force that pulls all objects toward the center of Earth.
What is gravity?
Defined as 9.8 m/s2
Newton’s First Law states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by this type of force.
What is an unbalanced force?
If you apply the exact same pushing force to a heavy block and a light block, which block will accelerate faster.
What is the light block (smaller mass)?
In a rocket launch, the engine pushes exhaust gas downward, which pushes the rocket in this direction.
What is upward?
In the skateboard lab, keeping the pushing force constant while adding heavy weights onto the skateboard causes the skateboard’s acceleration to ________.
What is decrease (slow down)?
A contact force that resists motion between two physical surfaces rubbing together.
What is friction?
When all forces acting on an object are equal and opposite, the net force is zero and the forces are said to be __________.
What are balanced forces?
Increasing the mass of an object requires ________ force to achieve the exact same acceleration.
What is more (or greater) force?
Forces always occur in these corresponding sets, never in isolation.
What are action-reaction pairs?
In the swing lab, pulling a block further back increases the gravitational potential energy and results in a larger ________ force when released.
What is pulling / applied force?
The pulling force transmitted through a stretched rope, string, or wire.
What is tension?
A hockey puck sliding across smooth ice eventually slows down because of this external force acting against it.
What is friction?
The standard scientific unit used to measure force.
What is a Newton (N)?
When walking on a sidewalk, your foot pushes backward against the ground. The ground pushes in this direction against your foot.
What is forward?
On a Free Body Diagram, force vectors are drawn using these shapes to show both direction and magnitude.
What are arrows?