Class 11: FORCE AND PRESSURE Notes on Force April 2013

A force is a push or pulls acting on an object which changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of the object, or, changes its direction or shape.

The direction in which the object is pushed or pulled is called the direction of the force.

The interaction of one object with another object results in a force between the two objects.

If a force acts on an object in the direction of its motion, then the object moves faster.

If a force acts on an object opposite to the direction of its motion, then the objects slows down.

Effects of force: o o o Force can change the shape of an object. Force can make a stationar bod move, or, it can stop a moving bod . Force ma also change the direction of motion of an object. (age & of )

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Force can change the speed of a moving bod .

Forces acting on an object in the same direction add to each other and the direction remains the same.

Forces acting on a same point result in a resultant force. The resultant force is the sum of the forces when the act in the same direction. *hen the forces are in opposite direction, the resultant force is e+ual to difference of the forces and is in the direction of the greater force.

Force is e,pressed in terms of its magnitude and the direction in which it acts upon an object.

Force is a vector +uantit since it has both magnitude and direction.

Balanced forces
If two forces are balanced, it implies that the forces are of the same magnitude but are acting in opposite directions. Forces are shown b arrows in diagrams. The direction of the arrow shows

the direction in which the force is acting. .alanced forces do not change motion. If two balanced forces are acting on an object, that object will not change its motion. o o If it is still i.e. at rest, it will sta still. If it is moving, it will continue moving, in the same direction and at the same speed.

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Unbalanced forces
/nbalanced forces do change the wa something is moving. /nbalanced forces can make objects start to move, speed up, slow down, or change direction.

Types of force
Contact and non-contact forces
Forces which act onl when there is ph sical contact between two interacting objects are known as Contact forces. Forces which can act without ph sical contact between objects, i.e. those that can act from a distance, are called non contact forces.

Types of contact forces

&. !"sc"lar force: The force resulting from the action of muscles is called muscular force. *e make use of muscular force of animals like bullocks, !lass ": #otes on Force, April $%&', (age ' of )

horses and camels get our activities done. The point where force is applied on an object is called the point of contact. This is the force we can e,ert with our bodies b using our muscles, e.g. pull, push, kick etc. These are contact forces.

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Frictional force: Friction is a t pe of contact force that alwa s acts opposite to the direction of motion of the objects. The fact that the rolling ball comes to rest after some time shows that there must be a force acting on it which tends to slow it down. This force seems to be more on rough surfaces than on smooth surfaces. The force acting against the relative motion of surfaces in contact is called frictional force or friction.

'. !ec#anical force: The force e,erted b a machine is called mechanical force. 0achines need energ from energ sources to produce mechanical force. For e,ample, a crane lifting a heav object, or, the mechanical force produced b a turbine in a power station.

Types of non-contact forces

&. !a$netic force: The force e,erted b a magnet on an iron object. 0agnets e,ert forces of attraction or repulsion on other magnets. An important feature of magnetic force is that it can act from a distance, and is therefore considered a non1contact force.

$. Electrostatic force: The force which results due to the attraction of opposite charges, or, repulsion of similar charges.

'. %ra&itational force: 2ravitational force is a force of attraction between an two objects in the universe, and is a non1contact force. All objects in the universe e,ert a force on all other objects. This is called gravitational force. The gravitational force e,erted b the Earth on all the bodies on its surface is called gravit .

Units of force
In the international s stem of units 34I 4 stem5, the unit of force is newton (N) named after 4ir Isaac #ewton. (age 6 of )

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Another unit of force is kilogram force 3kgf5. A kilogram force is the force a bod of mass & kg is attracted towards the Earth. & kgf 7 8."#

Mass and Weight

The mass of an object is the amount of matter that is contained in the object. S unit of !ass" #ilogra! (#g) 0ass of an object will be the same no matter where in the universe the object is located. The weight of an object is the force with which the earth pulls the bod towards its centre. It is the force of gravit acting upon that object. S Unit of weight" newton (N)$ *eight will var according to the location of the bod in the universe. It depends on the gravitational pull e,erted on the bod . o 9n earth, weight will differ be ma,imum at the poles and minimum near the e+uator as the gravitational pull is ma,imum at the poles and minimum at the e+uator. o As we go higher in the atmosphere, weight decreases as gravitational force decreases with increase in the distance from the centre. o The gravitational pull of the moon is : times less than that of the earth. Thus, weight of a bod on the moon is &;: th of the weight of the same bod on earth. For e.g. a bod that weighs :%# on earth will weigh &%# on the moon. 3:%# ; : 7 &%#5 The weight of an object is measured b a device called the spring balance.

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