Work through the list without notes. If you cannot do a statement, follow its link, then come back. Guide = study guide; Practice = practice questions.
Understanding
- I can describe any force as an interaction, naming the object that exerts it and the object it acts on. (Guide: “A force is an interaction”; Practice Q1)
- I can explain why an object or system cannot exert a net force on itself, and say what really pushes a car or a runner forward. (Guide: “Nothing can push itself”; Practice Q2, Q7)
- I can explain contact forces as the large-scale effect of electric forces between atoms, and tell them apart from long-range forces. (Guide: “Contact forces and long-range forces”; Practice Q7(c))
Skills
- I can draw a free-body diagram with a dot for the center of mass and one straight, labelled arrow per force. (Guide: “What a free-body diagram shows”; Practice Q5)
- I can draw forces in the same direction side by side and leave components off the diagram. (Guide: Figure 2; Practice Q3)
- I can choose tilted axes on a slope and write the components of gravity as mg sin θ and mg cos θ. (Guide: “Choosing axes”; Practice Q4)
- I can turn a free-body diagram into a table of components and component sums. (Guide: Worked example 1; Practice Q4, Q5)
- I can add forces written in unit-vector notation. (Guide: “Forces as vectors”)
Reasoning
- I can draw diagrams for different choices of system and explain why internal forces disappear from the system diagram. (Guide: Worked example 3; Practice Q6)
- I can draw a free-body diagram as a snapshot when a force changes with time, and say when a force such as the normal force disappears. (Guide: Worked example 2)
- I can explain why a normal force or tension need not equal the weight. (Guide: Worked example 1; Practice Q5(c))
All ticked? Move on to Topic 2.3, Newton’s Third Law, or return to the course roadmap.