Forces & Motion

Allday, J. (2021) ‘Exam talkback: forces, circular motion and trigonometry’, Physics Review, 30 (4), pp.18-21.
Analysing the forces acting in real-world situations often involves ideas from trigonometry, along with algebraic manipulation.

Street, S. (2021) ‘Hailstones’, Physics Review, 30 (4), pp.10-13.
Where and how do hailstones form? How can we model their motion? This article supports your study of calculations involving density and force which are used to model the motion of falling hailstones and relate their terminal speed and kinetic energy to damage caused on impact.

Main, P. (2020) ‘On the water: the physics of capsizing’, Physics Review, 29 (3), pp.18-21.
Peter Main explains the forces that make a floating craft stable, and discusses what might make it capsize. The shape of hull that, theoretically, maximises the speed of a racing boat also makes it unstable – a compromise between speed and stability is needed.

Herklots, L. (2019) ‘Exam talkback: forces on charged particles’, Physics Review, 29 (2), pp.24-26.
Questions involving forces, such as those affecting blocks sliding down slopes or sails on a boat, often involve resolving forces into perpendicular components. The same techniques can be applied to forces between charged particles.

Main, P. (2019) ‘Frisbee physics’, Physics Review, 29 (2), pp.18-20.
Examines the physics of Frisbee flight, which combines the behaviour of an aerofoil with that of a gyroscope.

Marshall, R. (2019) ‘Brownian motion revisited’, Physics Review, 29 (1), pp.18-19.
In a series of articles throughout this volume, Rick Marshall looks at the stories behind some key discoveries. Here he discusses Brownian motion.