These words in bold are verbs that describe

forces.
Forces
are pulls, pushes or twists that are
Forces dominate our lives. Gravity holds us
applied
to
objects.
In the case of the bicycle, the
down. Water buoys us up. Helium balloons move up
and rain fails down. Friction slows us down. Forces forces applied can cause:
are involved in anything we do.

a change in speed;
All movements are caused by forces. In

a change in direction;
1586, Dutch engineer Stevinus discovered that a

a change in shape (the rubber tyres are

light weight and a heavy weight dropped from the
compressed and flattened by the weight of
same height at the same time reached the ground
the rider).
together. This observation disagreed with the
teachings of Aristotle who stated that all substances
tried to reach their natural places in the universe and
that heavy bodies fell faster to achieve this. Galileo
(1564-1642) repeated Stevinus' experiment by
dropping cannon and musket balls and also found
they reached the ground together. Galileo's further
studies showed that the balls accelerated equally. In
the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton was able to
explain these motions in terms of the force of
gravitational attraction.

Forces

Investigating forces
A bicycle can be used to help you
understand the idea of forces. Australian cyclists
excel in international competitions. Next time you
watch these cyclists on television or when you ride
your own bicycle, think about the different actions
involved.

Cyclists push the pedals with their feet.

The bicycle is steered around the track by
twisting the handles to the left or the right.
The hand brake is applied by pulling or
pushing the lever on the handle.
As the hand-brake cable is pulled, the
brake pads push against the wheel.
The gear teeth mesh with the drive chain
and pull it around.
The rotating wheels push against the
track.

Stage 1: Bicycle moves off from rest

To make the bicycle move, you need to
apply a force. As the pedals rotate, the force is
transferred to the wheels. As long as the track is not
too slippery, the tyres will have sufficient grip to
push against the track. In turn, the track pushes
against the tyres to propel the bicycle forward
(Figure 4.4).
Although friction is necessary to provide the
grip between the tyre and the track, the forward
motion of the bicycle can be slowed by frictional
forces that oppose the motion. If the track is very
rough, or the tyres are not properly inflated, you
will have to apply a greater force through your
muscles to overcome this extra resistance. Forces
come in pairs that oppose one another.

Stage 2. Accelerating to maximum speed

In order to travel faster, you must make the
wheels rotate faster. You apply a greater force from
your muscles to make the pedals rotate faster. You
can also select a different set of gears to make the
driven wheel rotate faster. As the bicycle speeds up
or accelerates, the friction between the tyres and the
track decreases a little (Figure 4.5). Air friction,
however, will increase as you speed up.
Streamlining becomes important to cut down this
drag.

Stage 3. Travelling at constant speed

To travel at constant speed, you must
continue to pedal at a rate so that the applied force
just balances all the frictional forces. just as a car
driver can achieve a constant road speed of 60
kilometres an hour by adjusting the depression of
the accelerator pedal, you can also travel at constant
speed on your bicycle by carefully adjusting the
force you apply to the pedal (Figure 4.6).

Stage 4. Decelerating to a stop

To stop the bicycle, you have two options.

You can stop pedalling so the applied force is zero.
Your bicycle will eventually slow down (on a flat
surface) and stop as the opposing frictional forces
continue to act on it. You can also apply the hand
brake to increase the friction that opposes the
movement (Figure 4.7).
The forces involved in bicycle riding behave
in the same way in all events in which forces act.


If the forces acting on an object are
unbalanced, then the object will accelerate.

If the forces acting on an object are

balanced, then the object will either be at rest (not
moving) or be moving at constant speed.
Forces always occur in pairs. An action
force is always opposed by an equal reaction force.
Think about an example in which a motorist
tries to push a car that has stalled in the middle of
the road (Figure 4.11 ). There are three opposing
pairs of equal forces: those between the motorist
and the car, those between the car and the road
surface, and those between the motorist and the
road surface:
The motorist pushes on the car (FMC); the car
pushes back on the motorist (FCM).

Frictional forces operate whenever two

surfaces in contact try to move past each other. In
the above examples, the two forces acting on the car
are FMC and FRC (Figure 4.12).
If the motorist fails to move the car, or only
manages to move it at a constant speed, then these
opposing forces are equal. If the motorist pushes
harder and gets the car moving with an increasing
speed, then the action force is larger than the
frictional force.

Questions

FMC = FCM

The car's tyres push against the road

surface (FCR); the frictional force of the road surface
1. Classify the forces in each of the diagrams in
pushes against the car's tyres (FRC).
Figure 4.13 as pulls, pushes or twists.
FCR = FRC

The motorist's feet push against the

road surface (FMR); the frictional force of the road
pushing against the motorist's shoes prevents
slipping (FRM).
FMR = FRM

2. Explain the following observations.

a The bicycle pedals need to be pivoted on an
axle.
b The bicycle is difficult to get moving if the
rear wheel is on slippery ground.
c It is difficult to ride fast if the tyres are not
fully inflated.
d When you stop pedalling, the bike will come
to a stop eventually.
3. Figure 4.14 shows a 50-kilogram young man
pushing against a large 200-kilogram packing case
with a force F. The case does not move.
a. With what force does the packing case push
back on the man?
b. If the packing case had been resting on a
sheet of ice, what effect would this have on the
man's ability to move the case?

Fig 4.14

i. front gear
ii. rear gear
c. The rear gear is smaller in diameter than the
front gear.
i. If the front gear wheel rotates once, what
will the rear gear wheel do?
ii. What would happen to the number of
rotations of the rear gear wheel if the
rear gear wheel was larger than the front
gear wheel?

4. Use the diagram of a bicycle hand-brake cable in 6. A fisherman attached a fish to a spring scale to
weigh it. The weight of the fish is a force (W)
Figure 4.15 to explain how the forces applied at one
pulling down.
point cause an action at another point.

5. In Figure 4.16, the pedal of the bicycle is about to

be pushed down by a force. Copy the diagram into
your workbook.
a. Use a red arrow to show the direction in which
the bicycle chain moves.

b. Use a blue arrow to show the direction in which

the chain pulls against the gear teeth of the
following.

a. What force (F) opposes the movement

caused by the weight of the fish?
b. The moment the fisherman attaches the
fish to the hook, the scale pointer begins to
move quickly. Describe the size of the
opposing force at this point.
c. The pointer's movement slows down just
before it is about to stop. Describe the size
of the opposing force at this point.
d. The pointer finally comes to rest.
Describe the size of the opposing force
when the pointer is at rest.

7. A steel ship floats on a quiet sea. It is not moving

up or down.
a. What can you say about the force that
opposes the weight (W) of the ship?
b. What causes the opposing force?
c. If the ship is filled with too much cargo,
it will become so heavy that it will sink.
As the ship rapidly sinks, compare the
sizes of the opposing forces.
8. a. Frictional forces oppose motion. State one
example of the practical use of a frictional force.
b. Friction occurs because of the roughness
between the surfaces in contact. Draw a diagram
of a magnified view of two surfaces in contact
to show how the frictional forces arise.
c. A block of wood is placed on a wooden plank.
The plank is tipped at an angle till a point is
reached when the block just begins to move
(Figure 4.18). Make a statement about the
opposing forces at the point that the block
begins to slip.