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written by Tom Henderson
Free-body diagrams are a powerful tool to analyze forces exerted by interacting objects. This interactive activity, part of The Physics Classroom tutorial collection, provides self-directed practice in constructing free-body diagrams. Twelve descriptions of physical situations are presented; the goal is to determine the type and relative magnitude of the forces acting upon the described object. Additional help is provided with one click on "Web Help".

See Related Materials for a link to the four-part tutorial "Force and Its Representation", also written by author Tom Henderson.

Please note that this resource requires Shockwave.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Classical Mechanics
- Applications of Newton's Laws
= Friction
- Newton's Second Law
= Force, Acceleration
= Interacting Objects
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Self Assessment
- High School
- Middle School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Instructional Material
= Problem/Problem Set
- Audio/Visual
= Movie/Animation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Physical Science
- Physics First
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- Assessment
- New teachers
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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion
  • 6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.
  • 9-12: 4F/H1. The change in motion (direction or speed) of an object is proportional to the applied force and inversely proportional to the mass.
  • 9-12: 4F/H4. Whenever one thing exerts a force on another, an equal amount of force is exerted back on it.
  • 9-12: 4F/H7. In most familiar situations, frictional forces complicate the description of motion, although the basic principles still apply.
  • 9-12: 4F/H8. Any object maintains a constant speed and direction of motion unless an unbalanced outside force acts on it.

9. The Mathematical World

9B. Symbolic Relationships
  • 9-12: 9B/H1b. Sometimes the rate of change of something depends on how much there is of something else (as the rate of change of speed is proportional to the amount of force acting).
  • 9-12: 9B/H4. Tables, graphs, and symbols are alternative ways of representing data and relationships that can be translated from one to another.
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