Balanced and unbalanced forces examples

Let's also recall the unbalanced force law: When an object's net force ≠ 0, its speed increases (in the direction of the net force).

This sounds complicated, but it's actually something you're familiar with.

All it is really saying is that when something is pushed, it moves more (in the direction of the push). This is easy to notice when pushing a shopping trolley:

Once again, this law is best understood with some examples:

The ball is moving downwards at some speed.

Unlike the parachute above, the gravitational force down is larger than air resistance up.

Unbalanced force

Therefore the net force ≠ 0 (i.e. the forces are unbalanced). Because of the unbalanced force law, the ball's (downward) speed increases. This is what you'd expect!

The car is moving to the right at some speed. The thrust forwards is larger than the air resistance backwards.

Balanced force in a sentence

Therefore the net force ≠ 0 (i.e. the forces are unbalanced). Because of the unbalanced force law, the car's (forward) speed increases.

An increase in speed is also known as acceleration. Racecars have a large acceleration, so they c

what happens when a force is balanced

how do you know if a force is balanced