Forces and Magnets Week 2
Contact and Non-contact Forces
Building on from last week’s work, we are looking again at forces. Last week we grouped actions into whether they needed a push or a pull or both for them to cause an item to move.
e.g some parents are pushing a lawnmower to cut the grass
you pull the washing out of a washing machine
you can pull or push a door depending on whether you want to open or close it or the type of door it is
I hope you also had fun exploring how far cars or wind up toys moved on different surfaces. Frictional forces act in the opposite direction to movement so a bigger friction force means that the car will be slower and move a shorter distance. Therefore if you had a smooth surface like a laminate floor the car should have moved further than on carpet which has a greater frictional force.
This week we will again have the opportunity to explore forces and we are again grouping forces. This week we are deciding whether a force needs contact (touch) to work or whether the force and the item that moves do not need contact for them to move.
An easy example to visualise for a contact force is when you kick a football - the push force relies on your foot making contact (hitting or touching) the football to make it move.
However, if we think about Sir Isaac Newton and his discovery of gravity, the apple falls from the tree to the ground. It is being acted on by the gravitational force and that is why it falls down. But gravity is an invisible force and does not need contact with the apple to make it fall to the ground.
Below there is a booklet to complete with your different types of forces. There are also other resources to help you.