Force Effects

Work Done

A simple term called "work done" can be mentioned here. It basically means that an object on a surface has the potential to move, and given a push, it can move. Depending on factors like how slippery that bottom surface is, depends on how far that object will move. This is called work done.

This amount of work done is measured in Newtons. A Newton is a measurement discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. He figured that moving or dropping an object meant that it used force, and that it would weight a certain amount doing so.

It also means there is a transfer of energy. This energy goes from potential to kinetic (the act of moving the object) back to potential energy again (the act of the object stopping).

Let's take a bowling alley as an example. You want to bowl that ball down the alley, and to do so, you need to pick up the ball, place your fingers in the holes correctly, and the launch the ball by letting go at the right time to propel it down the narrow alley ahead, and potentially (see what I did there?) create a strike.

Sounds simple, and it really is. But there are forces at hand (literally) that work either against you and the ball, or help you both along. When you release the ball from the hand, a small amount of air resistance slows up the ball. This is a tiny amount, as the ball is [usually] heavy enough to withstand this force effect.

Something that moves it along is the alley itself. Once there is touchdown by the ball, the alley itself is fairly slippery. It is coated in some form of slippery substance that allows it to speed up and hit the skittles at the end of the alley with enough force to [again, potentially] create a strike and knock them all over.

Does gravity play a part in all this? Of course it does. Without gravity, we would have no force pulling objects down. Everything would float. So, gravity has it's own force effect on the ball heading down the alley.

Here is a YouTube video from Cognito about resultant forces:

Factors Affecting Force

Other factors may affect the effect of the force being applied. Heat. When you rub your hands together, it causes friction. In the example above, there shouldn't be much friction, due to the slippery surface of the alley; but although, there is some friction, so the ball's temperature does increase slightly.

Interesting fact: the effects of force can alter the shape of an object. A football flying through the air will change shape due to the forces being applied to it, even from being kicked.

If said ball was being thrown along a carpeted alley, there would definitely be friction, causing a change in temperature, and also the speed of the ball. It might slow down considerably, and even stop.

Resultant Force

Talking about this on the Types of Force page, a resultant force is the result of two forces being added together.

Back to the example, and the ball weighs (typically) around 10kg, being thrown at around 3 metres per second (squared), the ball would give a force of 30N (Newtons). The resultant force once the ball hits the alley would be around 28-29N, due to the features of the alley itself.