Year 9 - Science
The force of a floor
Hidden forces
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores forces, deformation, Hooke's Law, moments, and work done. It covers pressure in liquids, atmospheric pressure, upthrust, and equilibrium, as well as simple machines and force-extension relationships, highlighting how forces affect motion, friction, and object deformation.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain how a floor can support a range of objects with very different weights.
Key Notes
- More force is needed to hold up a bigger mass up in the air.
- The bigger the mass on a beam, the more the beam bends.
- The more a beam bends, the greater the force it pushes back with.
- The bigger the mass on a floor, the more particles in the floor are squashed together.
- The more particles in a floor are squashed together, the greater the force they push back with.
Vocabulary To Learn
- gravitational force: A gravitational force acts on any object inside a gravitational field.
- normal reaction force: When an object rests on a surface, there will be a normal reaction force acting on it.
- elastic: Materials are elastic if they return to their original shape when forces are removed from them.
- electrostatic force: The force between two electrically charged particles is an electrostatic force.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- There is a downwards force on a surface, but no upward force, the surface just gets in the way.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
More force is needed to hold up a bigger mass up in the air. The bigger the mass on a beam, the more the beam bends.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'gravitational force'
A gravitational force acts on any object inside a gravitational field. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: There is a downwards force on a surface, but no upward force, the surface just gets in the way. Correction: Have pupils describe upward forces they need to exert whilst supporting different sized weights at arms length.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 9 Science guide library.