Structures and
Mechanisms: FORCES
ACTING ON STRUCTURES ON
MECHANISMS
Lesson #1 Different kinds of forces
Learning Goals
• What is a force?
• What is the instrument used to measure force?
• What is the relationship between energy force
and work?
• What is a structure?
• What are the categories of forces?
• What are external forces?
• What are the four internal forces?
What is force?
• Every time an object is pushed
or pulled, a force is used.
• For example, a ball sitting on a field
will stay still until a force moves it.
When the ball is kicked, the person
kicking it uses FORCE. Once it is in
motion, the ball will keep moving in
the same direction until another
force makes it change direction or
stop. The harder the ball is kicked,
the farther it will travel. This is
because more force was used.
Relationship among Force, Power,
Work and Energy
• Force is that which causes an object to move, while
work is done when that force causes movement. Energy
is the inherent ability of any object to do work, while
power is the rate at which that work is done.
What is a structure?
A structure is a solid that has a shape, size,
and purpose. It holds a load.
Example: A tennis shoe is a structure. It
holds our foot securely so we can walk or
run. A bicycle has a certain shape and size.
It is built securely so we can sit on it and it
can take us places.
Structures in the environment, whether
natural or built by people, must be able to
stand on their own. They must be able to
withstand both internal and external forces.
Internal forces include the weight of the
structure itself. External forces include the
forces the environment places on the
structure. Over time, people have developed
methods for building structures that can
Two types of Forces :
• Internal Forces are forces between objects
found inside the system.
• cannot do work on system
• cannot change total energy of the system
• External forces are forces that act on the
system and their agents are part of the
environment.
• can do work on system
• can transfer energy into or out of system, thus
changing the total energy of the system
Internal Forces Acting On a
Structure
• An internal force is a force that acts
within different parts of the same
structure. Four examples of internal
forces are compression, tension,
torsion and bending.
Compression
• Compression: is the force that
squeezes an object or parts of
the object within it. It is a
pushing force. Some objects are
better at resisting compression
than others. An example of
compression is squeezing a ball
of modeling clay. Modeling clay
is easy to squeeze. Other
materials, like metals, cannot be
compressed so easily.
Continued…
• Tension : is the force that stretches and
pulls something apart. It is a pulling force.
An example of tension is pulling on a
rubber band. Most of the time it snaps back
when the tension is removed. However, if it
is stretched enough, the elastic band will no
longer be able to resist the tension. When
this happens, the elastic band breaks.
• .
Torsion
What is torsion?
Torsion is the twisting or
wrenching of a body by the
exertion of forces tending
to turn one end or part
about a longitudinal axis
while the other is held fast
or turned in the opposite
direction.
It is the state of being
twisted
Bending
What is shear or bending?
Shear force is a force that acts on
an object in a direction
perpendicular to the extension of
the object. For example, wind
pushing against a tree is a shear
force. Shear force results in shear
stress, which can eventually snap
or break an object.
Internal forces explained
Watch the following video and make notes on the two types of
forces in your notebook.
https://youtu.be/K0NY4cUj86Y
Forces-(Part-6)- Internal and External Forces | Science|Grade-
4,5|TutWay|
• What are the two types of forces?
• What are the different kinds of internal forces? Give
examples of each
