Science glossary · Australia
Force
A push or a pull.
Forces can start something moving, stop it, speed it up, slow it down, change its direction or change its shape. Force is measured in newtons.
Example: Kicking a ball is a push. Gravity pulling it back down is a pull.
Lessons, worksheets, practice and tools on this: Forces and motion.
Related words
- Friction: A force that slows things down when two surfaces rub together.
- Lever: A simple machine: a bar that turns on a point called the fulcrum.
- Magnet: An object that attracts iron and some other metals, and that has a north and a south pole.
- Gravity: The force that pulls objects toward each other, such as toward the center of Earth.