What Is A Force?

• A Force Is A Push Or A Pull On An Object.

• The Unit In Which We Measure Force Is A Newton (N).
• The Newton Is Named After Sir Isaac Newton, An English
Physicist And Mathematician.
• Sir Isaac Newton Is Recognised As One Of The Most
Influential Scientists Of All Times.
• The Unit Of Force Is Named After Him In Recognition Of
His Work In Mechanics And His Three Laws Of Motion.

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 Activity 1
Discuss Forces
1. The Girl Is Exerts A Pushing Force
 On The Roller Blades With Her
Feet.
2. Wind/Air 
3. The Girl Will Place A Foot On The
Ground  Slowing The Roller Blades
Down  Until It Eventually Stops.
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 4.
Column A Column B

Roller Blades Moving Forward Pushing force 

Hairdresser Drying Your Mother’s Pushing force 

Hair With A Blow Dryer
Stretching An Elastic Band Pulling force 

Tying Your Shoe Laces Pulling force 

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 Effects Of Forces
1. Forces Can Change The Shape Of An Object. This Is
Called Deformation.
2. Forces Can Cause An Object To Rotate.
3. If An Object Is Stationary, A Force Can Cause The Object
To Start Moving.
4. If An Object Is Already Moving, A Force Can Cause An
Object To Speed Up , Slow Down Or Stop .
5. Forces Can Change The Direction In Which An Object Is
Moving.
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 Activity 2
Identify The Effect Of Forces
1. List Five Effects Of Forces
2. Why Is Frictional Force Important When Driving A
Car?
3. Give Two Other Everyday Examples Of Effects Of
Forces.

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 Activity 2
Identify The Effect Of Forces
1.
• Force Can Cause An Object To Start Moving. 
• Force Can Cause A Moving Object To Speed Up, Slow Down Or
Stop. 
• Force Can Cause A Moving Object Change Direction. 
• Force Can Cause An Object To Change Its Shape. 
• Force Can Cause An Object To Rotate. 
2. It Allows A Car To Slow Down Or Stop. 
3. Learners’ Own Answers
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 The Activity 2
Identify The Effect Of Forces
Look At Figure 1 On Page 129 Again And Identify The Effects Of
The Following Forces.

1. The Girl’s Hair As She Is Moving On The Roller Blades

2. The Wheels Of The Roller Blades
3. The Effect On The Roller Blade When The Girl Places One
Foot On The Ground While The Rollerblades Is In Motion

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 Activity 2
Identify The Effect Of Forces
1. The Girls Hair Start Moving And Change Direction . 
2. The Wheels Of The Rollerblades Rotate
3. The Roller Blades Slow Down And Eventually Stops 

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 Force Pairs
• Forces Act In Pairs.
• Newton Called The One Force The Action, And The Other Force The
Reaction, As Shown In The Diagram.

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• When You Exert A Force On The Wall, You Will
Experience The Wall Exerting A Force Back On
You.
• Forces Act In Pairs On Different Objects.

• The Force Exerted By The Second Object Is Equal

In Strength And Opposite In Direction To The
First Force.

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• When The Forces Are Acting In Opposite Directions,
But Are Not Equal, We Say That The Net Force Is
Greater Than 0 N. There Is A Resultant Force.

• If The Forces Are Equal And Acting In The Same

Direction There Will Also Be A Resultant Force.

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• Imagine A Tug-of-war. People On Either Side Pull On
The Rope.
• If They Exert Forces Of Equal Size Then The Rope
Remains Stationary.
• If One Group Is Able To Exert A Larger Force Than The
Other Group, Then The Rope Will Move In The
Direction Of The Larger Force.
• This Is Because The Forces Are Unbalanced And There
Is A Net (Resultant) Force Acting In The Direction Of
The Larger Force.
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 Activity 3
Identify The Force Pairs
1.
(a) Force Of Trampoline On Tshepo, Force Of Tshepo
On Trampoline
(b) Force Of Juice On Bottom Of Glass, Force Of The
Bottom Of The Glass On The Juice
( c) Force Of The Wind On The Sails, Force Of The Sails
On The Wind

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 Activity 3
Identify The Force Pairs
1. Unbalanced

2. Balanced

3. Balanced

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 Forces Are Contact Or Non-contact
• Contact Forces: Objects Are In Contact With Each
Other
• Mechanical / Applied Forces
• Frictional Forces / Air Resistance
• Normal Force
• Non-contact/Field Forces: Act Over A Distance
• Gravitational Force
• Magnetic Forces
• Electrostatic Forces 14
Tension

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Compression

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Friction

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 Activity 4
Demonstrate An Understanding Of Frictional Force
1. Diagram Must Show The Direction Of Forces Which
Are Force Of Ground Under The Foot And Force Of
Foot On The Ground In Opposite Directions.

Direction Of Forces (opposite) -

Label The Forces That Are Exerted - 

2. The Ice Is Smooth And Ice-skating Shoes Are

Designed To Skate On Ice With Maximum Ease. 
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3.
(a)Useful

The Door Knob Must Turn Smoothly So The Door Handle Can Open
With Maximum Ease. 

(b) Inconvenient

The Rubbing Together Of The Shoe On The Soccer Field Will Cause The
Player To Fall And Injure Himself. 

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4.
The Smooth Soles And The Polished Floor Both Decrease Friction 
Making It Easier For The Person To Slip When Trying To Walk Quickly.

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 Activity 5
Identify The Type Of Force Exerted
1. Tension
The beads exert a force on the string which causes tension in the string.
The heavier the beads the greater the tension in the string. 

2. Compression
The tomato sauce is squeezed out through the small opening.

3. Friction
The soccer boots exerts friction to the ground when they touch or rub
against each other. 
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22
Weightlessness

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Types of field forces (non-contact)
•Gravitational: Between objects
with mass

•Electrostatic: Between objects

with charge

•Magnetic: Between magnetic

objects
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 Gravitational Force

•Acts towards an object’s

centre of gravity
•The space around an
object in which a
gravitational force can be
experienced is called the
gravitational field
•Gravitational force is
influenced by the size of
the objects and the
distance between them
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 Activity 6
Demostrate Gravitational Force
1. Ball Of Paper Will Fall Back Down Towards Earth
2. The Force Of Earth Is The Same As The Force Of The Ball Of
Paper 
3. Earth Exerts The Same Force Of Attraction On The Ball Of Paper
As The Ball Of Paper Exerts On Earth , But The Paper Is Much
Lighter And Can Move More Easily So It Falls Towards Earth.
Earth Is Too Massive To Move Towards Paper. 
4. All Objects Will Behave In The Same Manner And Will Move
Towards Earth , Because The Mass Of Earth Is Much Larger 
And So It Cannot Move Towards The Ball Of Paper
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 Activity 7
Identify The Size Of Gravitational Force Exerted
1. The distance decreases
2.
(a) Smaller 
(b) It is smaller when the cellphone is on the table, because the
distance is larger.
3.
(a) When the baby is held by Gerald , the distance is smaller,
(b) The gravitational force is greater when the distance is smaller ,
When Gerald holds the baby , the gravitational force is greater.

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Mass & weight
This equation shows that mass and
weight are related

Weight in newtons (N) Mass in kg

W = mg
Value of gravity
 Activity 8
Measure and Record Weight

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 Magnetic force

• Substances which can exert a

magnetic force are known as
ferromagnetic
• The space in which a magnet
exerts its effects is known as a
magnetic field
• The Earth exerts a magnetic
field through its iron and nickel
core

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 Ferromagnetic Substances
• Iron, Cobalt and Nickel are the three ferromagnetic substances
found on earth
• These and their alloys can be magnetized - steel
• Ferromagnetic substances lose their magnetic properties above a
certain temperature (Curie point) although over 80°C, their
magnetism is severely reduced

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Magnetic substances

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Magnetic Fields

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 Magnetic Poles
• When a magnet is dipped into iron
filings, they collect at the ends where
the magnetic force is strongest
• These ends are known as the poles of
the magnet
• There is a North (RED) and a South
(BLUE) pole to each magnet
• An imaginary straight line between
the poles is known as the magnetic
axis

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Magnetic Poles
Like poles repel one another, while unlike poles attract one
another

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37
Use of magnets
 Activity 9
Investigate The Magnetic Field Around A Bar
Magnet
1-2. Follow instructions for the practical.

3. The iron filings are attracted to the magnet. 

They are arranged in concentric circles around the magnet. 
Magnetic force of attraction is seen. 

4. Drawing of the magnetic field

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Drawing Of The Magnetic Field.
Correct Drawing-
Heading- 
Field Lines-

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5.
(a) Magnetic force of attraction
(b) They do not touch or cross each other. They are closer together at
the poles. 
(c) Non-contactforce as the magnet and iron filings do not touch
each other 

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 Activity 10
Investigate Magnetic Materials and Forces
1. Learners place substances on the desk.
2. The wood does not move because the wood is not
magnetic. 
3. Learners test each material to see if it is magnetic or
not.
4.

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 Magnetic Non-magnetic

Iron Filings Paper

Iron Plastic

Brass

Aluminium

wood

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5.
(a) No . This depends on the strength of the magnet
(b) No . This depends on the strength of the magnet and the
thickness of the wood.
(c) Yes
(d) Yes
(e) No . The steel contains iron so it will also have a magnetic field
that will interfere with the magnetic field.

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6. Magnetic substances must be placed within the magnetic field in
order to be attracted by the magnet magnetic substances such as
steel interfere with the magnetic field . Magnetism can pass
through non-magnetic substances such as paper. 

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 Activity 11
Investigate Repulsion and Attraction Between
Magnets
1.
(a) Learners place the north poles of two magnets close to each other.

(b) You will see that the poles of the magnets are unable to touch each
other . You will also feel a strong push where the poles of the
magnets move towards the magnetic field. 

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 Activity 11
Investigate Repulsion and Attraction Between
Magnets
2.

(a) Learners place the north poles of one magnets near the south pole
of another magnet.

(b) They immediately attract each other . You cant overcome the
force of attraction easily by pulling them apart.it requires effort to
break the force of attraction between these unlike poles. 

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 Electrostatic Forces

• Like charged items

repel, while
opposite charges
attract
• Potential energy is
stored in the charge

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 Electrostatic Forces
• Atoms consist of negatively charged electrons moving around a
nucleus of neutrons and positively charged protons
• If a substance accepts electrons then it become negatively charged

• If a substance loses
electrons it becomes
positively charged
• Electrons can be
transferred from one
object to another by
friction (rubbing)
• Protons cannot be
transferred
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PVC (-) and glass (+)
Detecting charged objects

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Electroscope identifies charge

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Static shock
•Dry human skin can charge with friction (particularly against
synthetic fabrics) accumulating a charge
•A discharge of electrons causes the sparks or shock we experience
as static electricity
•The feeling of an electric shock is caused by the stimulation of
nerves due to the charge

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Static electricity (static)
• Static shocks are more likely in winter in dry air
• Sparks can be seen when you comb dry hair in total darkness in front of
a mirror. You may also hear crackling sounds
• When you take off your jersey in total darkness and squash it in your
hands you notice sparks and hear crackling sounds
• A balloon, plastic sheets or sheets or small pieces of paper cling to you
• You get a shock when you touch a door handle
Lightning
Lightning
•Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge that occurs between
electrically charged regions of a cloud, between two clouds, or
between a cloud and the ground
•The charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalise
through this discharge referred to as a flash
•A lightning flash can also be a strike if it involves an object on the
ground

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Safety precautions
1. Stay away from trees
2. In open areas - crouch down, put your feet together and place your
hands over your ears to minimize hearing damage from thunder
3. Avoid any contact with water
4. Stay away from fences and metal objects
5. Do not use a corded telephone
6. Switch off electrical equipment like computers and television sets
7. Stay away from windows and open doors
Non-contact forces
•Non-contact forces can act over a distance and objects do not have
to be touching each other
•They act over a region of space known as a field
•Gravitational force: attractive force between objects with mass
•Magnetic force: attractive (N:S) or repulsive (N:N/S:S) force
between the poles of magnetised ferromagnetic substances
•Electrostatic forces: attractive (+:-) or repulsive (+:+/-:-) forces
between two electrically charged particles
•Non-contact forces allow objects to store potential energy

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 Activity 12
Investigate And Observe Electrostatic Forces
1. Learners Tear Tissue Paper.
2. The Glass Rod Attracts The Paper.
3. Learners repeat step 2 with the Perspex ruler and silk cloth as well as
the plastic ruler and cotton cloth.
4. The ruler and paper attract each other  , as the ruler and the glass
rod do not have the same charges as the paper . The paper is
neutral. This shows that charged objects have an effect on neutral
objects . They are attracted to opposite charged particles (protons
and neutrons) in the neutral object’s atoms 

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 Activity 12
Investigate And Observe Electrostatic Forces
5-6. Learners Follow Investigation Directions.
7. The Balloon Move Apart 
8. The Balloons Have Like Charges , Therefore They Repel Each Other.


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