Force is defined as a push or a pull acting on an object. Examples of forces include friction and gravity. Both are covered in detail later in this chapter. Another example of force is applied force. It occurs when a person or thing applies force to an object, like the girl pushing the swing in Figure 13.1. The force of the push causes the swing to move. Force is a vector because it has both size and direction. For example, the girl in Figure 13.1 is pushing the swing away from herself. Thats the direction of the force. She can give the swing a strong push or a weak push. Thats the size, or strength, of the force. Like other vectors, forces can be represented with arrows. Figure 13.2 shows some examples. The length of each arrow represents the strength of the force, and the way the arrow points represents the direction of the force. How could you use an arrow to represent the girls push on the swing in Figure 13.1? The SI unit of force is the newton (N). One newton is the amount of force that causes a mass of 1 kilogram to accelerate at 1 m/s2 . Thus, the newton can also be expressed as kgm/s2 . The newton was named for the scientist Sir Isaac Newton, who is famous for his law of gravity. Youll learn more about Sir Isaac Newton later in the chapter. More than one force may act on an object at the same time. In fact, just about all objects on Earth have at least two forces acting on them at all times. One force is gravity, which pulls objects down toward the center of Earth. The other force is an upward force that may be provided by the ground or other surface. Consider the example in Figure 13.3. A book is resting on a table. Gravity pulls the book downward with a force of 20 newtons. At the same time, the table pushes the book upward with a force of 20 newtons. The combined forces acting on the book or any other object are called the net force. This is the overall force acting on an object that takes into account all of the individual forces acting on the object. You can learn more about the concept of net force at this URL: . When two forces act on an object in opposite directions, like the book on the table, the net force is equal to the difference between the two forces. In other words, one force is subtracted from the other to calculate the net force. If the opposing forces are equal in strength, the net force is zero. Thats what happens with the book on the table. The upward force minus the downward force equals zero (20 N up - 20 N down = 0 N). Because the forces on the book are balanced, the book remains on the table and doesnt move. In addition to these downward and upward forces, which generally cancel each other out, forces may push or pull an object in other directions. Look at the dogs playing tug-of-war in Figure 13.4. One dog is pulling on the rope with a force of 10 newtons to the left. The other dog is pulling on the rope with a force of 12 newtons to the right. These opposing forces are not equal in strength, so they are unbalanced. When opposing forces are unbalanced, the net force is greater than zero. The net force on the rope is 2 newtons to the right, so the rope will move to the right. Two forces may act on an object in the same direction. You can see an example of this in Figure 13.5. After the man on the left lifts up the couch, he will push the couch to the right with a force of 25 newtons. At the same time, the man to the right is pulling the couch to the right with a force of 20 newtons. When two forces act in the same direction, the net force is equal to the sum of the forces. This always results in a stronger force than either of the individual forces
Output: force that a person or thing exerts on to an object