Force and motion
How do forces change the motion of an object?
16 lessons
Lessons
Describing motion
Chapter 1Position, velocity and uniform motion as graphsWhy can the distance a cyclist has travelled be four kilometres, even though her displacement is zero?
- Chapter 2Acceleration and uniformly accelerated motion
Why does a stone dropped from a bridge travel a longer distance during each second than during the second before?
- Chapter 3Comparing the motions of two bodies
Why does a car that starts from rest catch a steadily pedalling cyclist ahead of it only far down the road, even though the car accelerates all the time?
Newton's laws and forces
Chapter 4Interaction and force: Newton's first and third lawsWhy does a curling stone slide tens of metres along the ice although nobody is pushing it any more?
- Chapter 5Newton's second law
Why does a fully loaded truck accelerate away from the traffic lights more slowly than an empty one, even though the engine is the same?
- Chapter 6Free-body diagrams and the combined effect of forces
Why can a sled press on the ground beneath it differently when it is pulled upward at an angle by a rope than when it simply stands still?
- Chapter 7Equation of motion for connected bodies
Why does a mass hanging over the edge of a table fall more slowly than a freely falling object when it pulls a cart along the table with a string?
- Chapter 8Weight, friction and the inclined plane
Why does a moving box stay in place on a slanted loading ramp, but start to slide when the ramp is made a little steeper?
- Chapter 9Air resistance and falling through air
Why does a skydiver's speed stop increasing, even though the weight pulls the skydiver down throughout the whole fall?
Mechanical energy
Chapter 10Kinetic energy, potential energy and mechanical energyWhy does a skateboarder who is twice as fast rise four times as high on a ramp?
- Chapter 11Conservation of mechanical energy and the work–energy principle
Why is the first hill of a roller coaster always the highest of the track, even though the train is no longer pulled up after it?
- Chapter 12Hydro and wind power as energy converters
Why does the same water of the Vuoksi river give three times as much power at Imatra as at Tainionkoski? And why does the power of a wind turbine grow so much more than the wind speed?
Momentum and applications
Chapter 13Momentum and impulseWhy can a high jumper fall backwards over the bar onto a thick mat without getting hurt, even though a similar fall onto hard ground would be dangerous?
- Chapter 14Conservation of momentum and one-dimensional collisions
Why can a cue ball stop dead when it hits a stationary ball head-on, while the other ball carries on at almost the same velocity?
- Chapter 15Road safety: braking, seat belts and airbags
Why is the stopping distance of a car travelling at $100\,\text{km/h}$ almost three times that at $50\,\text{km/h}$, and why does a seat belt protect you when the car cannot stop in time?
- Chapter 16Applied lesson: lift, parachute and sledding hill
Why can two sleds stop equally far from the top of a hill, although one goes down a steep slope and the other a gentle one?
Apply independently
At the end of the module you can try whether you can apply what you have learned independently, in the style of the matriculation examination. The model answers and marking guides open after your own solution.
- Apply independently 3 tasks · 49 points
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Module goals
Show all 4 goals
The student
- can investigate phenomena related to force and motion experimentally
- can produce and analyse graphs of measurement data
- understands the importance of conservation laws in physics
- knows safety aspects related to force and motion