What are Forces?
Science: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 5.1.1
What are Forces?
Forces act on everything you can see around you.
Forces created by contact
- Forces can be caused by contact between two things.
- Forces like twists, pushes, pulls or friction are created by contact between two things.
Forces created by non-contact
- There are also non-contact forces.
- Forces like magnetism and gravity are non-contact forces.
Example
- When you are sat down, you have the following forces acting on your body:
- The force of gravity (a non-contact force) pushing you down into the chair.
- The force from the chair (a contact force) pushing up against gravity to make sure you don't fall through the chair!
Test yourself on What are Forces?
What forces act on your body when you are sitting down?
Which of these forces is a contact force?