Forces Facts for Kids – 5 Fun Facts about Forces

Forces Facts for Kids: We are dealing with forces everyday of our life, starting from gravity that keeps us standing on floor till walking on carpets! Let’s discover five fun facts about forces.

Forces Facts for Kids Fact Number 1: All Forces Are Types of Pull and Push

There are many types of force which can be applied or come from objects in the world but all of these forces are either a pulling force or a pushing force. Gravity, for example, is a pulling force. When you jump into the air it is gravity that pulls you back down to earth. Magnets create magnetic force, the force created by a magnet can either be a pulling force or a pushing force. When a magnetic metal is near a magnet it is pulled towards the magnet. When two opposing poles of magnets are near each other, they push apart.

Forces Facts for Kids Fact Number 2: Terminal Velocity Tells Us How Fast Objects Can Move When Dropped

Terminal Velocity is a way of describing the force applied to a falling object. When air resistance on a falling object and the weight of gravity on the object become equal, an object reaches its terminal velocity.

The easiest way to understand this is by dropping two objects of the same shape from a height, even if one of them is heavier than the other they will hit the ground at the same time. This is because they have the same terminal velocity and therefore fall at the same speed. This idea was first tested and proven by a man called Galileo Galilei. He dropped two spheres from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They both had different weights but landed on the ground at the same time.

Forces Facts for Kids Fact Number 3: Friction Is a Force Which Slows Down Movement

Friction is a pulling force and you may have seen friction in action before. Have you tried to slide along a carpet and slowed down? That is the effect that friction has on moving objects. When an object moves over a surface which is high in friction the object rubs against the surface. This rubbing together creates heat, that heat needs energy to be created and so the energy from the movement is stolen by the heat.

Therefore the movement slows down and stops because the energy which was powering the movement is gone, turned into heat. This is also why it is possible to get friction burns if your skin is exposed to friction, this sometimes happens when going down a slide. Ouch.

Forces Facts for Kids Fact Number 4: The Gravitational Pull of The Moon Causes The Tides in The Ocean

Have you watched the tide go in or out at the beach? It happens everyday and you can see it happening as the water gets further out or closer into the beach. This movement of the ocean is caused by the moon. Even though the moon is very far away from Earth it has a strong enough gravitational pull to affect the oceans. When the moon orbits the Earth it is closer to some parts of the world than others. The moon causes the tides when it is close enough to have a gravitational pull on the ocean.

Forces Facts for Kids Fact Number 5: Springs Return The Amount of Force You Put Into Them

Springs are very useful in machines but you may have also seen them in toys and in the playground. If you press down on a spring you will notice that it bounces back into its original shape. That is because every time you place force onto a spring it returns that energy. That is why they are so bouncy.

We hope you enjoyed learning more things about forces as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how majestic these forces are, you can move on to learn more about STEM like: Gravity and Friction.

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