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igcse physics notesprinted 22 · PDF 22
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Topic 1.5: Forces
What is force?
Force can be defined as
“A push or a pull that acts on an object due to the interaction with
another object”
Forces can can have an effect on
Speed
(for eg. pushing a shopping cart, launching a rocket)
Direction
(for eg. returning a tennis serve, gravitational pull on a comet)
Shape
(for eg. hammering metal into car body shapes)
Size
(for eg. stretching a rubber band, pushing a spring)
What is a resultant force?
When two or more forces act on an object, they seem to act as a single
force with a particular magnitude and direction; this is the resultant
A resultant force is a single force that describes all of the forces operating
on a body
This single resultant force determines:
The direction in which the object will move as a result of all of the forces
The magnitude of the net force experienced by the object
Balanced and unbalanced forces?
Forces are balanced if multiple forces act in opposing directions with an
equal magnitude in each direction
The effects of the forces then cancel out
There is no resultant force in that plane of direction