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Video transcriptWelcome to this short ‘insights video’ where we are going to look some of the challenges learners face when analysing the forces that act on objects in different situations.
A Force is not just as how strong it is, but also, what direction it acts in. So, forces are best described as vectors, with magnitude and direction.
Using vector theory, forces can be resolved into a horizontal and a vertical components. Then learners can use these components to see what will happen to objects when these forces are applied.
The complication of many exam questions is to involve objects on slopes. In this situation the ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ components need to be ‘twisted’ to align perpendicularity with the included surface to calculate the forces on an object.
Learners need to compare ‘like with like’ and calculating resultant vectors in the horizontal and vertical directions. Allowing them to resolve forces from different directions into one resulting vector force.
In more complex problems, learners are asked to analyse more then one object, with more than one force acting on them.
For example, in this situation learners need to look at each on the objects in turn and work out the forces acting on each object in turn.
They need to think about the horse on its own, the cart on its own and finally the harness connecting the horse to the cart" everything would be 'resolved’. Then using vector theory resolve the three sets of horizontal forces, the horse pulling (F), the cart having a drag force (f), and the tension in the harness force between the horse and the cart (P).
It is clear that the horse needs to provide enough force to pass through the tension in the harness to overcome the frictional drag of the cart, which of course it usually can, and the whole system moves forward.
I hope this short insights into resolving questions around force and equilibrium has been useful to you and your learners.
Thank you.
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