Exploring Forces
What is a force?
Join Sonali and Ragini on a windy bike ride, and find out what a force is.
On a windy day, Sonali and Ragini cycled through their village. The wind is pushing me hard! said Ragini. We're riding against the wind, said Sonali, so we have to push our pedals harder.
Their path climbed to a hilltop. On rough parts of the road it was hard to pedal; on smooth parts it was easier. On the way back they rang their bells and turned their handles to steer round a flock of sheep.
Coming down the slope, their bicycles raced along without any pedalling at all. What is pulling us downhill? Sonali wondered.
Every moment of that ride is about force, and this chapter explains each one in turn.
Start simply (Activity 5.1). Move a big cardboard box in as many ways as you can: push it, pull it, lift it, carry it. Whatever you do, you are always giving it a push or a pull.
In science, a push or a pull on an object is called a force.
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