Effects of Force

EFFECTS OF FORCE

•      We cannot see force, but we can see its effects. The effects that a force can have on objects are:

1. A force can change the direction in which an object is moving.

For example:

•      Motion is a change of position.

•      When a person throws a ball, he or she puts it in motion and the position of the ball changes.

•      When a baseball player runs around the bases, his or her position changes.

•      Even, the force applied by the baseball batsman, changes the direction of the ball that is bowled at him/her.

Figure 10: Effect of force observed in baseball

Figure 11: A top spins around and around, a swing moves back and forth, and a clock pendulum moves from side to side, when we do jumping jacks, we move up and down

2. A force can change the shape of an object.

Figure 12: Chapatti prepared from the dough

•      While making chapattis, the force applied by the hands changes the shape of the dough.

3. A force can make a moving object slow down or stop.

Figure 13: A girl is skating on a slanting rod, some shells come in motion after sometime, a red car is stationary and starts moving after sometime, a man is applying force on a machine and machine moves

•      For e.g. Take some pennies, marbles, or other small objects and push on the floor or on a flat surface.

•      Force changes the motion of body that is already in motion and produce motion in a stationary body.

Example:

•      A stationary car on a road suddenly gets hit behind by a truck.

•      The force applied by the truck affects the position of the car.

•      So, we can say that the position of the stationary body (car) changes when it is hit behind by a moving body (truck).

4. A force can make a stationary object move or make a moving object move faster.

Figure 14: A red car is stationary and starts moving after sometime, a boy is moving a globe

•      Speed describes how fast/slow something moves.

•      Fast-moving objects go farther distances in a small amount of time.

•      Slow-moving objects take much longer to go the same distance.

•      We must also know that we need more force to put heavier objects in motion.

Figure 15: A man is typing with the help of a typing machine which starts working after a man is applying some force on it; a boy is pushing a cart with a boy

Figure 16: Balls are not in a stationary mode when they start spinning, a girl is applying force on a ball to cause it to move