Balanced Force

Force is defined as a push or a pull that changes or tends to change the state of rest or uniform motion of an object or changes the direction or shape of an object. It causes the object to accelerate or add to its overall pressure.

In simple terms, force is defined as it is a push or a pull on an object that takes place when two objects interact. Force is the basic cause of motion from rest. The unit of force is called the Newton. The force can be measured using a device called a force meter. The unit of force is represented by N.

The force results in a change to the state of the momentum of an object. So whenever there is an interaction that happens between two objects there is a force that is acted upon each of the objects.

A force is a vector quantity. It is noted as such because a force is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction. Hence, to completely describe the force that is acting upon an object, there must be the magnitude and the direction. 

Force is commonly represented using pictures/diagrams wherein a force is symbolised by an arrow. The size of the arrow would depend upon the magnitude/measure of the force. The direction of the arrow denotes the direction where the force is acting. 

As force is a vector, the effect of a singular force on an object is frequently cancelled by the effect 

An object will only accelerate/move faster if there is a net force acting upon it. A net force is the volume/sum of all forces acting on an object. A net force can accelerate a mass.

The forces in the same direction are the two forces that are added to determine the net force if the force acting on the object are in the same direction and the net force will also be there in the same direction as the individual forces.

Forces in a different direction if the forces are acting in opposite directions, and the net force can be found by subtracting the smaller from the larger number.

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In physics, the motions exerted as a push or pull to the object, are termed as force, which arises due to the interaction of the object with the other object. It is effective in changing the object’s magnitude of velocity, the direction of motion, and even the size and shape of the object. Force takes place in pairs. 

It is worth it that force should be defined in mechanical terms. It will result in various actions such as magnetic fields, electric fields, etc among others. It should be noted that force has the property of inert acceleration to objects or particles.

How Do Forces Act on Objects?

The normal force is always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to gravity on the objects. An object may also have friction on it. Friction is a force that occurs when two objects rub against each other preventing and restricting motion.

When Will Force Be Balanced?

Forces will be balanced at any time unless any other force is added to them. For example, when the pen, pencil, and paper are set the forces are equal. They both pull and push themselves. But when the force of gravity is added then it pulls it down i.e. it falls.

Balanced forces are those forces that are opposite in direction and equal in size.  They are considered as a state of equilibrium. Balanced forces are unable to change the motion or direction of an object; they keep an object moving at a constant velocity. 

Examples of Balanced Force

• Resting against a wall

• Lying down

• Aircraft in a steady-flight

• Floating in water

• Standing in ground

• Tug of war equally balanced teams

• Fruit hanging from a tree

• Ball hanging from a rope

Characteristics of Balanced Force

1. The condition of rest or movement of an item does not change with balanced forces.

2. Balanced forces do not permit a moving item to shift direction or speed.

3. The net forces acting are zero with balanced forces. 

More About Balanced Force

1. What is Balanced Force?

When two forces acting on a body are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, then the forces are called balanced forces. In the case of balanced force, a stationary body continues to be in its stationary position while a moving object will continue moving at the same speed and in the same direction.

Balanced forces are those two forces acting in opposite directions on an object, and they are equal in size. Anytime there is a balanced force on an object, the object stays still or continues moving at the same speed and in the same direction is called a balanced force.

Examples of Balanced Force: A game of tug of war with equally matched teams on either side is an example of balanced force. In this, the rope does not move as equal and opposite force is applied from each side. The weight of the boat is balanced by the upthrust from the water. This is another example of Balanced Force. 

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The force exerted by each person is equal, but they are pushing in opposite directions, in this case together. It would look something like this given in the picture above. Because the force that each of the people is exerting is equal, the two forces cancel each other out and the resulting force is zero.

2. How Do You Know if a Force is Balanced?

To determine if the force acting upon the object is balanced, analysis for the force must first be conducted to determine what forces are acting upon the object and in what direction. If two individual forces are of equal magnitude and opposite direction, then the force is said to be balanced.

3. What Happens When Forces are Balanced?

When two forces acting on an object are equal in size but act in opposite directions, then that is said to be the balanced force. If the forces on an object are balanced a moving object continues to move at the same speed and in the same direction.

4. What is the Effect of a Balanced Force on a Body?

A force that does not change the state of rest or motion of an object is balanced. So a balanced force does neither make a body at rest to move nor make a body in motion to come to rest. It does not allow a body in motion to even change its direction or increase its speed too. 

Balanced force can be demonstrated in hanging, floating, and standing/sitting objects.

Hanging Objects

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In the above picture, the weight of the bulb shade pulls down and the tension in the thread pulls up. The forces pulling up and pulling down can be said to be in balance.

Floating Objects

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In the above picture, the log is floating in the pool of water. It is floating because the weight of the log is balanced by the uprising from the water. If more weight is tied to the log, the force that is pulling it down maybe more and will cause it to sink.

Standing/Sitting on a Surface

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In the above picture, a metal block is seen resting on the surface of a table. The weight is balanced by the reaction force from the surface. The surface pushes up in opposition to the metal block, balancing out the weight/ force of the metal block.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Newton’s first law of motion has been stated as an object at rest stays at rest an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and the same direction but acted upon by an unbalanced force.

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As seen in the picture two forces are acting upon the book. One force that is the earth’s gravitational pull exerts a downward force. The other force pushes off the table on the book referred to as normal force pushes the book upward.

Since these two forces are of equal magnitude and in the opposite direction, they balance each other. The book is said to be in equilibrium. There is no unbalanced force acting upon the book as shown in the picture above and thus the book maintains its state of motion. 

When all the forces acting upon an object balance each other, the object will be at equilibrium/balanced, it will not accelerate. 

Newton’s first law of motion is known as the law of inertia also. Inertia is a property of mass resisting any change from its original state of motion/rest. The greater the mass of a body, the greater will be its inertia that two forces are acting and the greater will be its resistance to changes to its state of motion or rest.

A body at rest implies that the net resultant force applied on the body is zero. 

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However, it is not necessarily that there is no force acting on the body. 

In the above-given picture, a box is seen resting on a table with zero net resultant force. But there are two forces acting on the box given above. One of the forces is the gravitational force due to the weight of the box, while the other is the normal force.

The normal force is an external force exerted perpendicularly by the surface in reaction to anybody placed against it.

Role of Friction

The friction can be explained with the example of a shopping cart and how it is not balanced. If a shopping cart gives a good push and lets the carts go, it does not go in a constant velocity forever. After a while the shopping cart you are no longer touching it to apply an unbalanced force. 

The ground has friction and applies a force to the shopping cart to slow it down to a stop. So the shopping cart is not an example of balanced forces.

The Resultant Force and Balanced Force

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Forces have direction and size. The forces are represented by arrows in the picture given above, i.e, in the direction the force acts. The length of the arrow given in the picture represents the size of the force. When an object has several forces acting on it, the effect of the force is the same as one force in a certain direction. This is called the resultant force. If the resultant force is zero the force on the object is balanced.

A resultant force is needed to change the velocity of an object or body. If the forces on an object are balanced then it will remain stationary, or if it is moving, it will continue to move at a steady speed in the same direction. This seems to be strange as we are used to frictional forces slowing things down.

What Are Balanced Forces Equivalent To?

Forces are said to be balanced if equal forces are acting in opposite directions. Balanced forces are equivalent/Identical to no force at all. If the force of an object is unbalanced, the object will either accelerate or decelerate. Air resistance and friction are forces that oppose the motion.

Points to Remember

The magnitude of the balanced force is equal. The direction will be the opposite direction in the balanced force. The object stays at rest in the balanced force. The speed of the object continues to move at car’s the same speed. And the net force acting will be zero.

Balanced Force in Terminal Velocity

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In the first picture, the object has been released. Air resistance to the upward arrow is low because the object has only just begun to accelerate and is moving relatively slowly at the point. The gravitational force of the downward arrow will remain constant throughout.

In the second picture, the object has been falling for a few seconds, getting faster and faster because there is an imbalance between the gravitational force and air resistance (in the picture note the disproportionate arrow length). If the object travels faster and faster there will be a constant increase in the frictional force exerted by the air.

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In the third picture, the object is still accelerating but the rate of acceleration is steadily being reduced as air resistance becomes greater and greater. In the final picture, the speed of the falling object is such that the force associated with air resistance is the same as that of the gravitational force. The force is said to be a balanced force. 

At this point, the object stops accelerating and simply continues to fall at a constant velocity. This velocity is called the terminal velocity.

The objects with a large surface area such as the sheet of paper or parachutes reach the terminal velocity much more quickly than the objects with a small surface area as air resistance will have that much greater impact. 

Terminal velocity is a good example of balanced force because the gravitational force and the air resistance balance each other. The terminal velocity is reached when the force of gravity is equal to the drag force on an object.

Is Air Resistance a Balanced Force?

When a car travels at a constant speed (uniform motion), the driving force from the engine is balanced by resistive and friction in the car's moving parts. The resultant force on the car is zero. An object falling at terminal velocity experiences the same air resistance as its weight. Likewise, a runner at the top speed experiences the same air resistance. 

And an object falling at the terminal velocity experiences/undergoes the same air resistance as its weight. If the force acting on an object is balanced, the resultant force is zero.

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Physics is awesome because we can always relate Physics to our life. Newton’s first law in Physics on the other view can be applied to our social life. Thus, through balanced forces, it is proven scientifically that if forces are not balanced the object cannot be at rest or in constant motion.