Resultant forces

• A resultant force is the overall force on a point or object
• In most real situations, there are at least two forces acting on an object along any direction,

  If you have a number of forces acting at a single point, you can replace them with a single force- this is called the resultant force
• When a force moves an object through a distance, energy is transferred and work is done on the object
• To make something move a force must be applied and this force must have energy .

  The force does 'work' to move the object and energy is transferred from one store to another
• work done = force x distance moved
• One joule of work is done when a force of one newton causes an object to move a distance of one metre
• Converting joules to newton metres

  1J = 1Nm
• USE SCALE DRAWINGS TO FIND RESULTANT FORCES

  1. Draw all forces acting on an object, to scale, 'tip to tail'
  2. The draw a straight line from the start of the first force to the end of the last force- this is the resultant force
  3. Measure the length of the resultant force on the diagram to find the magnitude and the angle to find the direction of the force