Forces are in play all around us. Objects that are hanging, sitting, balancing, moving, and spinning are all using some kind of force. Forces come in different forms, and they all result in something.

Let us start the lesson with this short scenario —

“Milly opened the fridge and brought out a chilled can of soda. In a hurry, she slammed the door, opened the soda, and gulped it down. She crushed the can in her hand and threw the empty can into the bin.”

Milly applied force in many of her actions (highlighted actions). Her actions involved some force to lift, open, turn, move and even change the shape of something.

Force, together with its various types is applied in almost every single activity in our lives.

Pushing the shopping cart, pulling the baby stroller, lifting weights at the gym, eating, and many other things involve the use of some force.

Can you think of the many ways in which you have applied a force to get results?

Forces can:

Change the direction of an object. You can pull the leash of your dog to make it change direction.

Turn things. A natural force like wind can turn the blades of a wind turbine to generate electricity.

Change the shape of something. Next time your mum makes dough for bread, watch her change the shape of the dough with the rolling pin.

In this lesson, we shall look at Forces in detail and how forces change the shape of objects, get things moving, cause moving objects to speed up, slow down or stop and change the way things move. Weight, pressure, and turning moments are all the result of forces too. Ready?