Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Name: ________________________________

Balanced Force Model

A force is _____________________________________ Common Types of Forces
Type of Force Direction When is it present? Symbol Equation

the

{ }{

} { } { }
force the exerts on the

Newtons 1st Law:

Newtons 3rd Law:

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Reading: A Force is an Interaction between Two Objects

When exploring the motion of a hover puck, we decided that we needed a force to change the motion of the block. We dened a force as an interaction between two objects. Thus, every force involves two objects, the object exerting the force and the object experiencing the force. We have noticed that some forces, such as the gravitational force, act at a distance. These forces are non-contact forces. Electric and magnetic forces are the other non-contact forces with which we are familiar. Otherwise, forces are exerted by way of objects interacting by touching one another. These forces are called contact forces. Some contact forces, such as the tension force of a rope on a crate, have the interesting ability to adjust. To help us keep track of the forces acting on an object, we have developed a new representation: system schema. System schema are sketches that list all objects interacting with the object we are considering. As an example, we will take the case of a book sitting on a table. The system schema in gure 1 shows the book and all objects interacting with the book as labeled ovals. Solid lines are draw between two objects if they are interacting. Finally, a dotted line is drawn around the object of interest (which we will call our system). Each line that crosses the dotted line surrounding our object of interest indicates that we should be able to identify a force corresponding to that interaction. In gure 1, we note that the table and Earth interact with the book. After identifying the objects interacting with our object of interest (our system), we label the forces we have identied. In gure 1 we have the gravitational force exerted by Earth on the book (Fg,E B ), and the contact normal force exerted by the table on the book (FN,T B ). We now employ another new representation: the free body diagram, as shown in gure 2. The free body diagram is a very stripped down schematic of the object and the forces exerted on the object. For our example of the book sitting on the table, the free body diagram shows the book as a dot, and the forces on the book are represented by arrows whose tails are on the dot and whose heads point in the direction of the force. You will notice that a free body diagram is very similar to a vector diagram. There are two quick checks that you should perform on your free body diagram. First, are the number of forces on the object the same as the number of solid lines crossing your dotted line boundary around your object? Second, are all the forces you wrote down for the object of interest of the form the (type of force) force exerted by (object exerting the force) on the (object of interest)? In order to help you draw your system schema and your free body diagrams, there are several steps you should take to identify all of the interactions between your object of interest and the outside world. First, you should identify all non-contact interactions between your system and its surroundings. We currently know of three non-contact force types: gravitational forces, electrical forces and magnetic forces. Thus, identifying outside objects interacting via non-contact forces is as simple as asking whether there are gravitational, electric or magnetic forces on our system, and what objects are exerting those forces. Second, you should tally all surrounding objects that are touching our system. These objects might be exerting contact forces. Contact forces include compression forces (the normal force of the table on our book,

Book

Table

Earth

Figure 1: The system schema for a book sitting still on a table top. The book is interacting with the table (it is touching the table) and Earth (the gravitational force is a non-contact force). The word normal means perpendicular to. This force is due to the compression of the atomic bonds (which are modeled by springs) in the table surface, and the force is therefore perpendicular to the surface of the table.

FN,T B normal force, table on book

Fg,E B grav. force, Earth on book

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Figure 2: The free body diagram for a book sitting still on a table top. Note that there are two forces on the system (which is the book in this case), the same number of forces as there are lines crossing the dotted line in the system schema.

Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

in the previous example, or the force of a mashed spring on the object placed on top of that spring), tension forces (the force of a spring or string on an object), friction forces (always parallel to the surface on contact between two objects), air resistance (due to wind or an object moving quickly through still air), as well as pushes and pulls by living objects (which can be thought of as compression and tension forces, too). It is possible for two objects to interact in more than one way, simultaneously. To illustrate this possibility, lets consider a book sliding to a halt on a table top. The system schema is shown in gure 3. There are now two lines connecting the book and the table, representing the normal force exerted by the table on the book and the friction force exerted by the table on the book. It helps to draw two separate lines for these two forces, thereby clearly indicating that there are now three forces (due to two interactions between the book and the table and one interaction between the book and Earth) on the book.

Book

Table

Earth

FN,T B normal force, table on book

Figure 3: The system schema for a table slowing as it slides on a table top. Notice that there are now three solid lines crossing the dotted line, indicating three distinct interactions of our system with its surroundings.

Ff ,T B fric. force, table on book Fg,E B grav. force, Earth on book

Using the system schema in gure 3, we can now draw a free body diagram for the sliding book on the table. The correct free body diagram should have one non-contact force (the gravitational force exerted by Earth on the book, Fg,E B ) and two contact forces (the normal (perpendicular) force exerted by the table on the book, FN,T B , and the (parallel) friction force exerted by the table on the book, Ff ,T B ).

Figure 4: The free body diagram for a book sliding on a horizontal table top.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Worksheet 1: Forces and Motion

Take care in reading every word in these questions. Make sure you know exactly when we are taking our snapshots in each part of the problem. When making a whiteboard, arrange your work so that all parts of one question can t on one board (neatly). 1. A cardboard box with a rubber bottom contains a cinder block at rest on a rough, concrete, horizontal oor. a. Draw a system schema for this situation.

b. Since the shape of the [box + cinder block]your systemis unimportant, shrink it to a point (this is where we are treating the box like a particle) and then show and clearly label each force on the system. Make it obvious from your diagram which forces you intend to be equal and which you intend to be greater than others.

c.

A person shoves the box horizontally so that it begins to move. Your answers to this part should concern the time while the person is still touching the box and shoving. (i) Draw a velocity-vs-time graph for the box, clearly marking the time when the box is at rest and the time when the person is still touching the box and shoving it. This should be qualitatively accurate (no numbers, but correct shape). (ii) Also draw a system schema for that same time period. (iii) Also draw a free body diagram for the box during that same time period. Label!

d. The shove ends when the box leaves contact with the persons hands. (i) Draw a qualitatively correct velocity-vstime graph for the box, clearly marking the time when the box is at rest, the time when the person is still touching the box and shoving it, and the time after the box loses contact with the persons hands. Make it obvious which lines are horizontal, which have greater slopes, smaller slopes, or negative slopes. (ii) Also draw a system schema for the box when it leaves contact with the persons hands. (iii) Also draw an FBD.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

2.

The rubber is now removed from the bottom of the box so that the cardboard surface rests directly on the same oor. It is then given a horizontal shove by a person. In the space below, modify your velocity vs. time graph as well as your system schemas and FBDs from problem 1 to accurately describe this new situation. Your diagrams do not have to be quantitatively accurate, but make it obvious which forces you intend to be equal and which you intend to be greater or less than others, so that comparisons can be made among forces in this problem as well as between forces in this problem and in problem 1. Make any differences in your graphs and diagrams obvious. a. Draw a velocity-vs-time graph for the box, clearly marking the three time periods.

b. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box is at rest on the horizontal oor.

c.

Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the person is still touching the box and shoving.

d. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation during the time after the box loses contact with the person's hands.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

3.

The box is now placed on a very smooth and polished oor. In the space below, modify your velocity vs. time graph as well as your system schemas and FBDs from problem 2 to accurately describe this new situation. Your diagrams do not have to be quantitatively accurate, but make it obvious which forces you intend to be equal and which you intend to be greater or less than others, so that comparisons can be made among forces in this problem as well as between forces in this problem and problems 1 and 2. Make any difference in your diagrams obvious. a. Draw a velocity-vs-time graph for the box, clearly marking the three time periods.

b. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box is at rest on the horizontal oor.

c.

Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the person is still touching the box and shoving.

d. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation during the time after the box loses contact with the person's hands.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

4.

Suppose that we could somehow succeed in making the oor completely frictionless. Again, make new diagrams/graphs to represent this new variation in the situation. Make any differences obvious. a. Draw a velocity-vs-time graph for the box, clearly marking the three time periods.

b. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box is at rest on the horizontal oor.

c.

Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the person is still touching the box and shoving.

d. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation during the time after the box loses contact with the person's hands.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

5.

Return to the case of the cardboard box resting on the concrete oor, with friction. A person pushes it hard enough to start it into motion and then continues pushing so that it maintains a constant velocity. In the space below, modify your velocity vs. time graph as well as your system schemas and FBDs from problem 2 to accurately describe this new situation. a. Draw a velocity-vs-time graph for the box, clearly marking the three time periods (at rest, velocity is changing, moving with a constant velocity).

b. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box is at rest on the horizontal oor.

c.

Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box is changing velocity.

d. Draw a system schema and an FBD for this situation while the box moves with a constant velocity.

e.

After pushing the box with a constant velocity for a while, you reduce your force to half the value needed to maintain a constant velocity. Make a new (continued) velocity-vs-time graph to show what happens to the box while you continue to push with this force.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Worksheet 2: FBDs
6. In each of the following situations, represent the object with a labelled free body diagram. Label each force with a meaningful symbol (ex: Fg) AND with the object exerting the force (ex: Fg(earth)). 1.! Object lies motionless. 2.! Object slides at constant speed without friction.

3.! Object slows due to kinetic friction.

4.! Object slides without friction.

5.! Static friction prevents sliding.

6.! An object is suspended from the ceiling.

7.! An object is suspended from the ceiling.

8.! The object is motionless.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

9. The object is pulled upward at constant speed.

10. The object is motionless.

11. The object is pulled by a force parallel to the surface.

12. The object is pulled by a force at an angle to the surface.

13. The object is falling (no air resistance).

14. The object is falling at constant (terminal) velocity.

15. The ball is rising in a parabolic trajectory.

16. The ball is at the top of a parabolic trajectory.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Empirical Force Laws Experiments (Fg, Fs)

Sketch and label the experiment setup:

What could we measure? How could we measure it?

The Objective:

Use this space for notes at the whiteboarding stage of the experiment:

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Reading: Forces Add Like Vectors

Consider experiments in which two unequal forces act on a body in opposite directions. The result is an acceleration in the direction of the larger force but smaller. Figure 1 shows an example. This should remind you of how the force of friction slightly decreased the overall force on the carts when we pulled them with one spring of force.

5N

2N equivalent to

3N

Figure 1: Two forces acting in opposite directions subtract, with the net force pointing in the direction of the larger of the two forces. If we dene forces pointing to the right as positive (+2 N here) and to the left as negative (-5 N), we can alway just add the forces.

Thus we can simply add the two forces to get the net force expressed in Newtons Second Law as long as we keep track of the directions of the forces using positive and negative numbers (with positive numbers representing forces pointing in the direction we have dened as the positive direction). For the example in gure 1 we would have a positive force (to the right) of 2 N and a negative force (to the left) of 5 N. If we add those forces we get Fnet = (+2 N) + (5 N) = 3 N.

F2 F1 F3 is equivalent to

Situations where the forces point in the same or opposite directions are fairly straightforward, but what happens when there are multiple forces pointing in all directions? In such cases, we need to treat forces as vectors. In fact, without really thinking about it too much, the example in gure 1 does treat the forces as vectors. You may have noticed that by using arrows to depict forces, we have already chosen a visual representation that is similar to the way we depict vectors.

F2

F3

F1 adding up to zero force

An experiment can be performed in which three forces act on a body in different directions to produce an equilibrium state (that is, zero net force). If vectors are used to represent these forces with their lengths proportional to the force magnitude, it is possible to add them using our familiar headto-tail sequence. Since the vectors add up to zero, the resulting vector diagram forms a closed polygon, as in gure 2. This corresponds to vector addition resulting in a zero resultant vector (if this is not immediately clear, please review your summer homework on vectors). We experimentally determine that when two or more forces act at acute or obtuse angles, the forces have a combined effect that is equivalent to a single force that is their vector sum. The vector sum of force vectors represents the net force vector, and this situation is shown in gure 3. Note that we cannot merely add the magnitudes of the vectors in this more general case!

Figure 2: Forces adding to zero result in equilibrium (no change in velocity). The vectors are added using the tail-to-head method.
F1

F2

equivalent to

F net F 1 F 2 F2 F1

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Figure 3: Forces add as vectors. This takes a little more work, but it is the only way to deal with forces in more than one dimension!

Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Worksheet 3: Interaction Problem Solving

7. The player in the photo exerts a 100 N horizontal force on a 25 kg blocking sled, pushing it across the grass with a constant speed of 2.0 m/s. a. Fill out the chart below, determining all of the forces on the blocking sled. System Schema

!
Motion Map Qualitatively correct sketch of FBD

REMINDERS: Does your system schema have a system boundary? In your FBD, did you represent the system with a particle? Is it obvious when you intend two forces to be equal or when you intend one force to be greater than another? Did you label your forces with the object exerting the force in parentheses? b. On the graph below, draw an FBD to a precise scale. Make sure you write down your scale!

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

c. How would the situation change if the player pushed with more than 100 N, while the frictional force between the grass and the sled remained the same? Illustrate your answer with another FBD and motion map.

d. Describe, in terms of the amount of force he would have to apply, what the player would have to do to make the sled move with a constant velocity of 3.0 m/s. Assume that the frictional force between the grass and the sled remains the same under all circumstances. Illustrate your answer with diagrams and/or graphs as appropriate.

e. If he pushes the sled as originally described with a velocity of 2.0 m/s, how far will it slide in 7.5 seconds? Draw at least three diagrams/graphs to illustrate this situation, then solve this problem using at least two different methods (and getting the same answers).

f. With the sled moving at a constant velocity of 2.0 m/s, the person reduces his force to 75 N. Describe what happens to the sled. Illustrate your answer with another FBD and motion map.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

8. The 80 kg box rests motionless on the 20 incline. a. Fill out the chart below, determining all of the forces on the box (including their magnitudes). (Qualitative) Sketch of FBD

!
System Schema (Qualitative) Sketch of Vector Addition Diagram

REMINDERS: Does your system schema have a system boundary? In your FBD, did you represent the system with a particle? Is it obvious when you intend two forces to be equal or when you intend one force to be greater than another? Did you label your forces with the object exerting the force in parentheses? Did you add vectors tail to head? b. On the graph below, draw the vector addition diagram to a precise scale. Be sure to write down your scale! Be sure to use a ruler and a protractor!

c. Is the contact normal force [greater than, less than, or equal to] the gravitational force? Explain.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Activity: Broom Ball

For each of the situations, describe (using words, pictures, etc) how to accomplish each feat. Each situation refers to pushing a bowling ball on the oor with a broom. Speed up the bowling ball from rest. Stop a moving bowling ball.

Keep a moving bowling ball moving at a constant velocity.

Move the ball from one line to the other and back as quickly as possible and without overshooting the lines.

With a moving bowling ball, make a sharp left turn.

Travel at a constant speed along a curved line.

Move the ball around a circle as quickly as possible.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Activity: Dueling Forces

For each of the following situations: 1. Draw one system schema. In your system schema, draw the interaction between the two carts in colored pencil. (Keep everything else in regular pencil.) 2. Draw and label two FBDs (one for each cart). Draw the forces the carts exert on one another in colored pencil. (Again, keep everything else in regular pencil.) Be sure your FBDs look balanced or unbalanced as appropriate. Draw forces to approximate scale. 3. Finally, measure the colored pencil forces with the force sensors and correct your diagrams if necessary. Remember to zero your force sensors! 4. After completing the ones on this sheet, if you have time (or outside of class), you might be interested in trying additional variations and conrming your results. I. You may ignore friction on this particular situation.
velocity = 0

Fperson A

Fperson

II. Do not ignore friction.

constant velocity

Fperson

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

III. Do not ignore friction.

speeding up

Fperson

IV. Do not ignore friction.

speeding up

Fperson

V. This should be a collision on a track (snapshot during the collision). You may ignore friction in this situation.
velocity initially at rest

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

Worksheet 4: N3L in Action

6. A block slides down a ramp at a constant speed. During that slide, the ramp sits at rest on a table. Draw one system schema for the situation, then draw an FBD for the block and an FBD for the ramp.

7.

In frustration, Alec gets Henry to hold up his test and punches his st completely through all of the sheets of paper. Which is greater: the force that Alecs st exerted on the paper or the force that the paper exerted on Alecs st? Explain.

8.

Your friends truck stalls out on a hill, so you get out to push. However, after a couple minutes you start to tire yourself out and the truck starts pushing you back down the hill. While the truck is pushing you back down the hill, which is greater: the force that you exert on the truck or the force that the truck exerts on you? Explain.

9.

At the ice skating rink, Lydia (who has a mass of 50 kg) stands face to face with her brother, Marcus (who has a mass of 80 kg). They put their hands together and Lydia pushes Marcus backwards. Draw one system schema and two FBDs (one each for Lydia and Marcus) during the push. You may assume that the ice is frictionless.

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Honors Physics / Unit 02 / BFPM

BFPM Model Summary

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