Chapter 12: Forces & Motion

12.1 (pg’s 356-362)Forces

  • Force: can cause a resting object to move, or it can accelerate a moving object by changing the object’s speed or direction.
  • Force is measured in newtons (N). 1 N is the force that cause a 1-kg mass to accelerate at a rate of 1 meter per second each second (1N = 1kg x m/s2 )
  • A Newton (N) a unit of force, explains how force, mass, and acceleration are related.
  • Representing Force: an arrow to represent the direction and strength of force.
  • Combining Forces:
  • Net Force: the overall force acting on an object after all the forces are combined.
  • Forces in the same direction add together
  • Forces in opposite directions subtract from one another.
  • Balanced Forces: when the forces on an object are balanced, the net force is zero and there is no change in the object’s motion.
  • Unbalanced Forces: an unbalanced force acts on an object, the object accelerates.
  • Friction: a force that opposes the motion of objects that touch as they move past each other.
  • Static Friction: force that acts on objects that are not moving.
  • Sliding Friction: force that opposes the direction of motion of an object as it slides over a surface.
  • Rolling Friction: force that act on rolling objects.
  • Fluid Friction: force that opposes the motion of an object through a fluid.
  • Gravity: is a force that acts between any 2 masses.
  • Gravity is an attractive force that pulls object together.
  • Earth’s gravitational force exerts a force of attraction on every other object that is near Earth.
  • The force of gravity does not require objects to be in contact for it to act on them.
  • Earth’s gravity act downward toward the center of Earth.
  • An upward force or supporting force balances the fownward force of gravity.
  • Falling Objects: Gravity causes objects to accelerate downward, where as air resistance acts in the direction opposite to the motion and reduces acceleration.

12.2 (pg’s 363-371) Newton’s First & Second Laws of Motion:

  • 1st Law: the state of motion of an object does not change as long as the net force acting on the object is zero.
  • Sometimes called the Law of Inertia: the tendency of an object to resist a change in its motion.
  • An object at rest tends to remain at rest, and an object in motion tends to remain in motion with the same direction and speed.
  • 2nd Law: The acceleration of an object is equal to the force acting on it divided by the object’s mass.
  • Doubling the mass of an object cuts its acceleration in half.
  • The acceleraion of an object is always in the same direction as the net force.
  • Mass & Weight:
  • Mass is a measure of the inertia of an object, how much “stuff” something is made up of.
  • Weight is a measure of the force of gravity acting on an object.

12.3 (pgs. 372-377) Newton’s Third Law of Motion & Momentum

  • Newton’s 3rd Law: whenever on object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first object. (action and reaction forces)
  • Momentum: is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity.
  • An object has a large momentum if the product of its mass and velocity is large.
  • Conservation of Momentum: if not net force acts on a system, then the total momentum of the system does not change.
  • Closed system: other objects and forces cannot enter or leave a system.
  • In a close system, the loss of momentum of one object equals the gain in momentum of another object, momentum is conserved.

12.4 (pgs. 378-382) Universal Forces:

  • Electromagnetic Forces: are associated with charged particles
  • Nuclear Forces: the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force, act within the nucleus to hold it together
  • Gravitational Force: every object in the universe attracts every other object.
  • It takes a huge mass such as Earth’s to exert a large gravitational force.
  • Gravity is the weakest universal force, but it is the most effective over long distances.