1. Name____________________________________________Period:___Date_______
Note Packet 2a: The Nature of Force “May the force be with you”
What is Force?--Like velocity and acceleration, a force is
described by its strength and by the direction which it acts.
Force- a push or a pull
• To describe a force, you must describe how strong the force is. The SI unit for
strength of a force is the newton.
• To describe a force you must also describe the direction the force is pushing or pulling.
• Arrows can be used to show forces. The point of the arrow shows the direction of the
force. The length of the arrow shows how strong the force is.
Answer the following questions.
1. Circle the arrow that shows the stronger force.
2. Is the following sentence true or false? Forces are described by their strength and
their direction. ________________________________
3. The SI unit used for measuring the strength of a force is the _____________.
4. Forces are described by their ___________________ and ________________.
5. Sketch a diagram below of one large and one small force pulling a train car full of
carnival rides. Which way will the train car move? In the direction of the large force
or small force? Why?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
SKETCH HERE:

2. Name____________________________________________Period:___Date_______
Note Packet 2a: The Nature of Force “May the force be with you”
Combining Forces: Unbalanced forces acting on an object result in a net force and
cause a change in the object’s motion. Balanced forces acting on an object do not
change the object’s motion.
• Often there is more than one force acting on an object. The total of all the
forces acting on an object is called the net force.
• Sometimes the net force on an object is 0. This means there are balanced
forces acting on the object. The object’s motion does not change.
• Sometimes the net force does not equal 0. This means there are unbalanced
forces acting on the object. The object’s motion changes.
Answer the following questions.
1. Define the following words:
a. Net Force ________________________________________
________________________________________________
b. Balanced Forces ___________________________________
_________________________________________________
c. Unbalanced Forces _________________________________
_________________________________________________
2. Sketch an example of a balanced force and an unbalanced force. Explain what
will happen to the object that has force acting on it. Will it move? Remember
your force arrows!
Balanced Force Unbalanced Force