Physics: Forces and Energy

Gravity: Objects with large mass, such as the Earth, cause strong forces of gravity.

All objects, even pens and pencils, cause forces of gravity. Objects with small mass, such as pens and
pencils, cause very weak forces of gravity. That means we do not notice other objects being
attracted to them.

The force of gravity caused by an object acts towards the centre of the object. You can imagine the
Earth as a giant ball in space. The force of gravity at positions around the Earth acts towards the
centre. That means when you drop an object, the object falls in a line that points towards the centre
of the Earth.

The strength of gravity decreases as you go further away from a large object such as Earth. For
example, if you travelled away from Earth in a spacecraft, the force of gravity from the Earth acting
on you would get smaller.

It is difficult to lift a heavy object because gravity is pulling it towards the centre of the Earth. By
lifting, you are pulling against gravity.

The weight of an apple is about 1 N means gravity from the Earth is pulling on the apple with a force
of 1 N. You need to apply a force of 1 N to hold the apple.

The contact force: The contact force acts up from any surface to support an object. The contact
force is always equal to the weight of the object when the surface is not moving.

Eg 1: When a book with a weight of 5 N is resting on a desk, gravity is still pulling it down with a force
of 5 N but the book not moving down through the desk because the desk is pushing back up on the
book with an equal force of 5 N. This force from the desk is called the contact force.
Eg 2: Your weight pulls you down, but an equal contact force pushes you up.

Sometimes the weight of the object is larger than the contact force. If this happens, the surface will
break, or the object will sink into the surface. Eg 3: If the weight of this vehicle is greater than the
contact force from the sand, it sinks into the sand.

Weight: The force of gravity on an object is called its weight. Weight is a force and it is measured in
newtons, N.

Mass: Mass is the quantity of matter in an object. It is measured in kilograms, kg.

The weight of my bag is 10 kg. (wrong)

The mass of my bag is 10 kg.(correct)

On Earth, the force of gravity is 10 N on every 1 kg of mass.

weight (N) = mass (kg) × 10 (N/kg) => W = m x 10

 To use a formula triangle, cover the part of the equation that you want
to find. Then, do the calculation that is shown in the uncovered part.
For example, if you want to find the mass, you cover them.
The uncovered part is then W/10
Divide the weight by 10 to get the mass.
Remember that m must be in kg.
You can use the equation to calculate mass if you know the weight. For
example, a computer games console has a weight of 28 N. The mass of
the console is 28/10 = 2.8 kg.

The force of gravity that pulls on 1 kg tells you the strength of gravity. On Earth, this is 10 N. As 10 N
acts on 1 kg, you say this as '10 newtons per kilogram',or 10 N/kg. Eg: if a person has a mass of 45 kg,
their weight on Earth is 45 x 10 = 450 N.

Note: The strength of gravity is not 10 N/kg in all parts of the Solar System. The weight of an object
changes when the strength of gravity changes. If you want to calculate your weight somewhere
different from Earth, you can use the same equation but you must change the number 10 to the
value of the strength of gravity wherever you are calculating it. The mass of an object does not
change.

Where did the Solar System come from?

Look at the diagram of the Solar System.

Here are some facts about the Solar System:

 All the planets in the Solar System follow a path or orbit around the Sun in the same direction.
 The Sun and all the planets (except Venus and Uranus) spin on their axes (singular: axis) in the
same direction.
 Most of the moons of the planets orbit their planets in the same direction as the planets rotate
around the Sun.
 The direction of spin of the Sun and the planets (except Venus and Uranus) is the same as the
direction in which the planets orbit the Sun.
 All the planets orbit the Sun in the same plane. Objects that are in the same plane could all be
placed on the same flat surface, just like all the objects on a desk. That means the Solar System
looks flat.

Watching the birth of stars

Scientists can see distant stars forming in other parts of space. These stars are being formed from
clouds of dust and gas.
A cloud of dust and gas in space is called a nebula.

Some young stars can also be seen with a flat disc of dust around them. Scientists think our Solar
System was formed this way. Text book has a picture of The Orion Nebula-stars are being born here.

How do stars and planets form out of dust and gas?

All objects cause forces of gravity. All the particles of dust and gas in the space have their own weak
gravity. The particles of dust and gas pull on each other with very weak forces due to their own
gravity. As they stick together, their total mass increases. As their mass increases, so does the
strength of their gravity. That means they attract more dust and gas with a stronger force. This starts
to form a small ball. Gradually, this ball gets bigger. If the ball gets beyond a certain size, it will get
hot enough to become a star. Otherwise it will become a planet. It takes millions of years to form a
star or a planet.

The fact that Venus spins on its axis in the opposite way to all the other planets seems to contradict
this hypothesis. Scientists think the planet Jupiter almost reached the size to be a star.

The Sun

Objects with more mass have more gravity. The Sun is the object with the largest mass in the Solar
System. The mass of the Sun is 330 000 times greater than the mass of the Earth. In fact, the mass of
the Sun is more than the mass of all the other planets added together!

The Sun's gravity is 27 times stronger than the Earth's gravity (the strength of gravity on Earth is 10
N/kg & on the Sun it is 270 N/kg). It holds all the planets in their orbits.

The Sun’s gravity gets weaker as the distance from the Sun increases. The planet Neptune is 30 times
further from the Sun than Earth is. The mass of Neptune is about 17 times the mass of Earth. So
although the Sun's gravity gets weaker, it is strong enough to hold Neptune in orbit.

Orbits of planets

The orbits of the planets, including Earth, are almost circular. To keep any object moving in a circle,
there needs to be a force causing it to turn. The diagram shows how the force of gravity from the
Sun acts on a planet to keep it in orbit. The force of gravity from the Sun that acts on a planet always
acts towards the Sun. If this force did not act, the planet would travel off in a straight line into space!

Mercury, which is the closest planet to the Sun, has the strongest pull from the Sun's gravity. This
causes Mercury to orbit with the highest speed of all the planets. The average speed of Mercury
around the Sun is 170 000 km/h! The average speed of the Earth around the Sun is about 100 000
km/h.

Speed in space

On Earth, all objects that move have forces acting on them to slow them down.

Air resistance is one of those forces. It is caused by a moving object having to push against the
particles in the air. Air resistance acts in the opposite direction to movement. The faster an object
moves, the greater the air resistance on the object.

Aeroplane wing are designed so that the aeroplane can slow down faster with extra air resistance
when required. The shape of the wing can be changed to produce extra air resistance when it needs
to slow down after landing.

In space there is no air. There are very, very few particles in space. A space where there are no
particles is a vacuum. A spacecraft, called the Juno probe, would have a lot of air resistance if it were
moving on Earth. In space, where there is a vacuum and no air resistance, the Juno probe reached a
speed of 266 000 km/h as it passed Jupiter. It became the fastest object that people had ever made.
This speed would not be possible for the Juno probe on Earth because of air resistance. Earth and
the other planets are also moving in a vacuum. This means there is no air resistance to slow them
down. The only force acting on the planets is from gravity.

What are tides?

In some parts of the world, the depth of the ocean changes by several metres during the day. The
depth is the distance from the surface of the water to the bottom of the ocean. This change in depth
of the water is called a tide.

The difference in depth of the water between high and low tides is the tidal range.

Fun fact: The largest tidal range in the world is 16.3 m in the Bay of Fundy in Canada. Some of the
smallest tidal ranges in the world are less than 1 m in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas.

Tides also cause the land to change in height through the day! This is called earth tide. The tidal
range due to earth tide is about 30 cm

High tides are about 12 hours apart. Low tides are also about 12 hours apart. The time between high
and low tide is six hours.

What causes tides?

The Moon orbits the Earth. The Moon stays in orbit because of the force of gravity from the Earth
but the Moon also has gravity, and this gravity pulls on the Earth. As the oceans are made from
water, the gravity from the Moon can pull the water more easily than the land. The pull from the
Moon's gravity is called a tidal force. The diagram shows how this happens.
 The blue shape around the Earth represents the
ocean depth. The difference in depth is caused by the pull of gravity from the Moon. The side of the
Earth closer to the Moon will have high tide.The Earth takes 24 hours to spin on its axis.This means
that 12 hours later, the side that was closest to the Moon is now furthest away.You can see from the
drawing that the side furthest away also has a high tide.This is why the time between high tides is 12
hours.

Note: The Sun also produces a tidal force on Earth, but this is weaker as the Sun is further away than
the Moon. When the Sun and the Moon are in line with Earth, this produces a larger tidal force.

The next drawing shows how larger tidal forces affect the Earth when the Earth, Sun and Moon are
in line.

Effects of tides

1. Use of harbours: Some harbours can only be used at certain times of the day. If the water in the
harbour is not deep enough, boats cannot move safely. Some harbours contain no water at low
tide, so boats cannot move at all. Harbours are places where boats and ships can load and
unload passengers and cargo. In weather with strong winds, coastal areas are more likely to
have flooding at times of high tides. Coastal areas are parts of the land that are close to the
oceans. The flow of water in and out of some coastal areas can be dangerous for small boats.
2. In some places, tides affect food chains, including the human food chain. For example, at low
tide birds can eat some types of shellfish when they are not covered with water. Some types of
fish move to find food according to tides in coastal areas.
3. Volcano eruptions have been linked with earth tides. By studying Earth tides, scientists may be
able to predict when a volcano will become dangerous.
4. Earthquakes may also be linked with earth tides.
5. Movement of water with tides can be used to generate electricity.
What is energy?

Energy is something that must be changed or transferred in order to do something. The unit for
measuring energy is called the joule (J).
Eg:
2000 J to walk up the stairs between two floors in a building.
200 J for every metre you run
400 000 J to bring 1 litre of cold water to boiling point.

Energy stores and transfers

There are many different ways in which energy is being stored or transferred around you all the
time.
Runners have kinetic energy because they are moving
Storing energy

Energy can be stored more easily in some ways than in others.

Some energy stores can last for a long time.
Examples:
1. Uncooked rice can be stored for a long time. That is a store of chemical energy.
2. Coal and crude oil are stores of chemical energy that formed millions of years ago. This shows
that some energy stores can last for a very long time.
3. A battery is another example of how chemical energy can be stored. It is quite easy to store
chemical energy.
4. Gravitational potential energy is also easy to store. To store water in a tank, pump has been used
to lift up the water. The water stores gravitational potential energy.

Some energy stores only last for a short time.

Examples:
1. Thermal energy (heat): Hot objects will eventually cool down (they will lose their store of
thermal energy).
2. Kinetic energy: Kinetic energy is more difficult than chemical or gravitational potential energy to
store. Eg: a bouncing tennis ball has a store of kinetic energy while the ball is moving, but the
ball will eventually stop moving.

How does energy change?

Energy is something that must be changed or transferred in order to do something. Before energy
can be changed or transferred, it is stored. When energy is stored, the energy is not doing anything.

Useful energy transfers:

1. When wood is used to heat a pot of food, burning the wood changes the chemical energy stored
in the wood to thermal energy (heat). The thermal energy is then transferred to the pot and the
food inside.
2. When people are walking upstairs, they are changing chemical energy from their food into
kinetic energy for movement. The movement is taking the people higher, so kinetic energy is
being changed to gravitational potential energy.
3. Power stations are using the chemical energy stored in natural gas. The gas is burned, which
changes chemical energy to thermal energy. The thermal energy is then changed to kinetic
energy in large generators that spin around. The kinetic energy is then changed to electrical
energy. The electrical energy is then transferred through wires into homes and buildings.

Harmful energy transfers:

1. Typhoons
2. Hurricanes
3. earthquakes
4. tsunamis
5. Strong winds can transfer energy in a damaging way
Energy diagram:

A fire that burns wood changes chemical energy to thermal energy.

A television converts electrical energy to sound and light.

When a book falls from a shelf, that is an event. When the book is on the shelf, the book has stored
gravitational potential energy. This energy is changed to kinetic energy as the book falls.

You can also represent events such as this in a diagram.

Useful and wasted energy

Every time you use energy to make something happen, energy is transferred or changed. Some of
the energy transferred or changed is useful, but some of it is wasted. Every time energy is changed
or transferred, there is some thermal energy wasted. This wasted thermal energy is dissipated.

Eg 1: Gasoline (petrol) is a store of chemical energy. The motorcycle engine changes only some of
this into kinetic energy. The rest of the energy is wasted. This chemical energy is changed to useful
kinetic energy to move the motorcycle and rider. But chemical energy from the fuel is also changed
into thermal energy and sound energy. In fact, only about or 25% of the chemical energy in the fuel
is used for movement. The other or 75% of the energy is wasted energy. This wasted energy is
dissipated and cannot be recovered. Dissipated energy is energy that spreads out where there is no
use for it. You cannot gather thermal energy or sound and bring them back into one place to be
stored, changed or transferred.

Eg 2: Some lamps only change about 15% of the electrical energy into light. 85% of the electrical
energy is wasted from this lamp. This is dissipated as thermal energy. Some lamps change about 50%
of the electrical energy into light. 50% of the electrical energy is dissipated as thermal energy from
this lamp. These two lamps emit the same brightness of light but they waste very different quantities
of energy.

Eg 3: Even when you want to produce thermal energy, some of it is wasted. When water is heated by
burning wood, chemical energy from wood is being changed to thermal energy by the process of
burning. Thermal energy is being used to heat the water. Thermal energy is also being used to heat
the rocks, the metal container and the air around it. Some of the thermal energy is escaping in the
steam. The fire is also changing energy into light. All these represent wasted energy that is dissipated
and cannot be recovered.

For everything that uses energy change or transfer, some of that energy will always be dissipated.
Extra:

When the Solar System formed, there were no people to observe how it was made. Observe means
to watch something happening. So how do we know what happened? Scientists can try to solve a
problem like this in two different ways.
>> They can look for evidence, in the form of facts from observations or experiments to support
their theory, and then try to explain what they have found.
>> They can think of a testable theory, called an hypothesis, and then look for evidence to support
the hypothesis.

Using models

Scientists cannot observe a star or Solar System forming in an experiment. Instead they use
computers to create models. A model is a way of representing something that is difficult to observe
directly.

The scientists put many of the known laws of physics into a computer program. Then the computer
uses this information to predict what will happen, starting with a cloud of dust and gas.

The result is a prediction that a star will form, surrounded by planets.