EDEXCEL IGCSE / CERTIFICATE IN PHYSICS 1-3

Forces and Movement

Edexcel IGCSE Physics pages 23 to 33
All content applies for Triple & Double Science June 17th 2012

Edexcel Specification
Section 1: Forces and motion
c) Forces, movement, shape and momentum understand that friction is a force that opposes motion know and use the relationship between unbalanced force, mass and acceleration: force = mass acceleration F = m a know and use the relationship: weight = mass g; W = m g describe the forces acting on falling objects and explain why falling objects reach a terminal velocity describe experiments to investigate the forces acting on falling objects, such as sycamore seeds or parachutes describe the factors affecting vehicle stopping distance including speed, mass, road condition and reaction time

Force mass and acceleration

The force, mass and acceleration of an object are related by the equation: force = mass acceleration
F=mxa force is measured in N mass is measured in kg acceleration is measured in m/s2

also: acceleration = force mass and: mass =

force acceleration

F
m a

Checking the equation

Question 1
Calculate the force required to cause a car of mass 1200 kg to accelerate by 5 m/s2. F=mxa = 1200 kg x 5 m/s2 Force = 6000 N

Question 2
Calculate the acceleration produced by a force of 200N on a mass of 4kg. F=mxa becomes: a = F m = 200N 4kg acceleration = 50 m/s2

Question 3
Calculate the force that accelerates a mass of 300kg from rest to 6 m/s over a time of 3 seconds. acceleration = change in velocity time = (6 0)m/s 3s acceleration = 2 m/s2 F=mxa = 300kg x 2 m/s2 force = 600N

Complete: Answers
F 24 N N 24 200 N 600 N m 4 kg 40 kg kg 30 kg a 6 m/s2 5 m/s2 20 m/s2 20

2N N 2
5N

5g
100 g

400 m/s2
5000 50 cm/s2

Car forces

When a vehicle travels at a steady speed the frictional forces balance the driving force. To slow the car the engine force is reduced by releasing the throttle and the frictional force is increased by applying the brakes.

Stopping a car

The total distance required to stop a car, the stopping distance, is equal to the thinking distance plus the braking distance.

Factors affecting stopping distance

1. The reaction time of the driver This will increase if the driver is tired, distracted or has consumed alcohol or drugs. Increasing reaction time increases the thinking distance. 2. The speed of the car The greater the speed the greater will be both the thinking and braking distances. Doubling the speed increases the overall stopping distance by about four times.

3. The mass of the car and its contents The greater the mass the greater will be the braking distance. 4. The condition of the road Wet and icy roads will cause the braking distance to increase. 5. The condition of the vehicle Worn brakes or worn tyres will both increase the braking distance.

Choose appropriate words to fill in the gaps below:

steady speed the engine force is When a car is moving at a _______ equal to the resistive force. stopping The __________ distance of a car is equal to the thinking braking distance plus the _________ distance.
alcohol and drugs are all likely to increase the Tiredness, ________ __________ distance. thinking four A car travelling at 60 m.p.h. will require roughly ______ distance times stopping __________ of a car travelling at 30 m.p.h.. WORD SELECTION: braking thinking four steady alcohol distance stopping

Mass and weight

Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Mass is measured in kilograms. The mass of an object is the same on the Moon as on the Earth. Weight is the force of gravity on an object. Weight is measured in newtons. The weight of an object on the Moon is about one sixth that on the Earth.

A newtonmeter is used to determine the weight of the parcel

The acceleration due to gravity (g)

The acceleration due to gravity (g) varies with planet, moon and star and depends on the height of an object. Some examples of the acceleration due to gravity: Location Earth Moon m/s2 10 1.6 Location Jupiter Pluto m/s2 24 0.7

Mars

3.7

The Sun

270

Gravitational field strength (g)

This is an alternative way of measuring the strength of gravity.

The gravitational field strength is equal to the gravitational force exerted per kilogram.
Near the Earths surface, g = 10 N/kg In most cases gravitational field strength in N/kg is numerically equal to the acceleration due to gravity in m/s2, hence they both use the same symbol g.

Calculating weight
weight = mass gravitational acceleration
W=mxg weight is measured in N mass is measured in kg gravitational acceleration is measured in m/s2 On the Earths surface a mass of 1kg has a weight of 10N.

Falling objects
When an object falls through air or some other fluid initially the only significant force acting on it is the downward pull of gravity.
On Earth, it will initially accelerate downwards at 10 m/s2.

As the object speeds up frictional forces such as air resistance become greater the faster the object moves.

Eventually the resultant force on the object will be zero when the frictional forces equal the weight of the object.
The object then moves at a constant speed called terminal velocity.

Velocity-time graphs for a falling object

Parachuting
A parachutist will have two different terminal velocities. Before opening the parachute it is about 60 m/s (140 m.p.h..). Afterwards, due the much greater drag force, the terminal velocity is about 5 m/s (12 m.p.h.)

Velocity-time graph of a parachutist

velocity first terminal velocity parachute opened

initial acceleration = 10 m/s2 second terminal velocity

ground reached

time

Choose appropriate words to fill in the gaps below:

force of gravity on an object. Weight is the ______ mass Weight is equal to the _______ of an object in kilograms gravity multiplied by the acceleration due to ________. Near the ten Earths surface a mass of one kilogram weighs _____newtons.

When an object falls through a fluid it initially accelerates _________ speed because of gravity. As its ________ increases so do the equal to frictional forces. Eventually the frictional forces are _____ resultant force on the weight of the object. At this stage the _________ terminal velocity. the object is zero and the object falls with its _______
WORD SELECTION: gravity equal force accelerates terminal ten speed resultant mass

Online Simulations
Effect of forces on motion using a space module Freezeray.com Forces in 1 Dimension - PhET - Explore the forces at work when you try to push a filing cabinet. Create an applied force and see the resulting friction force and total force acting on the cabinet. Charts show the forces, position, velocity, and acceleration vs. time. View a Free Body Diagram of all the forces (including gravitational and normal forces). Motion produced by a force - linear & circular cases netfirms Table Cloth & Other Newton 1st Law Demos - 'Whys Guy' Video Clip (3 mins) (1st of 2 clips) Inertia of a lead brick & Circular motion of a water glass 'Whys Guy' Video Clip (3 mins) (2nd of 2 clips) Air Track - Explore Science Force on a Wing - Explore Science Newton's 2nd Law Experiment Fendt Reaction time stopping a car - also plots velocity/time graph - NTNU Simple gravity varying with distance and mass Freezeway.com Free-fall Lab - Explore Science Galileo Time of Fall Demonstration - 'Whys Guy' Video Clip (3 mins) - Time of fall independent of mass - Leads slug and feather with and without air resistance. (1st of 2 clips) Distance Proportional to Time of Fall Squared Demonstration - 'Whys Guy' Video Clip (3:30 mins) Falling distance prortional to the time of fall squared. (2nd of 2 clips some microphone problems) Lunar Lander - PhET - Can you avoid the boulder field and land safely, just before your fuel runs out, as Neil Armstrong did in 1969? Our version of this classic video game accurately simulates the real motion of the lunar lander with the correct mass, thrust, fuel consumption rate, and lunar gravity. The real lunar lander is very hard to control. Moonlander Use your thrusters to overcome the effects of gravity and bring the moonlander safely down to earth. BBC KS3 Bitesize Revision: Weight mass and gravity BBC AQA GCSE Bitesize Revision: Force and acceleration F=ma Stopping distances Weight Falling objects

Force and Movement

Notes questions from pages 23 to 33
1. (a) State the equation relating force, acceleration and mass. (b) Calculate the acceleration that is produced by a force of 600N acting on a mass of 120kg. (a) What is weight? (b) Calculate the weight of a person of mass 90kg on the surface of (i) the Earth and (ii) the Moon. (a) Give two factors in each case that would increase the (i) braking distance (ii) thinking distance of a car. (b) Give one factor that if decreased would reduce both of the above. Sketch and explain the shape of the velocity-time graph of a freefall parachutist from the time of leaving a plane to the time of reaching the ground. Answer the questions on pages 32 & 33. Verify that you can do all of the items listed in the end of chapter checklist on page 32.

2. 3.

4.

5. 6.