Recognizing Forces - Questions

The Recognizing Forces Concept Builder is comprised of 30 questions. The questions are divided into 10 different question groups. Questions in the same group are rather similar to one another. The Concept Builder is coded to select at random a question from each group until a student is successful with that group of questions.

There are three levels of difficulty by which the student can progress through the Concept Builder. Those three difficulty levels are differentiated as follows:
 
  • Apprentice Level: Question Groups 1-5
  • Masters Level: Question Groups 6 - 10
  • Wizard Level: Question Groups 1-10

The questions from each group are shown below. Teachers are encouraged to view the questions in order to judge which level of difficulty is most appropriate for their classes. We recommend the Wizard Level. It includes questions from each of the two less difficult levels. None of the questions are that difficult and exposure to all 10 Question Groups is more likely to equip students with the abilities that they need. By previewing questions or (even better) by doing the activity, you will quickly gain a feel for what works best in your classroom.

The Physics Classroom grants teachers and other users the right to print these questions for private use. Users are also granted the right to copy the text and modify it for their own use. However, this document should not be uploaded to other servers for distribution to and/or display by others. The Physics Classroom website should remain the only website or server from which the document is distributed or displayed. We also provide a PDF that teachers can use under the same conditions. We have included a link to the PDF near the bottom of this page.

 

 
Recognizing Forces
 
Objective: To utilize an understanding of the various types of forces in order to analyze a given situation and to identify the presence or absence of a variety of force types.
 
 
Question Group 1
Question 1
Consider this situation:  A book is at rest upon a table.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the book.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
Question 2
Consider this situation:  A car is parked along a level road.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the car.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force


Question 3
Consider this situation:  A person stands at rest on the floor.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the person.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force


 
 
Question Group 2
Question 4
Consider this situation:  A football travels upward and rightward through the air.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the football.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 5
Consider this situation:  A baseball travels upward and rightward through the air.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the baseball.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 6
Consider this situation:  A golf ball travels upward and rightward through the air.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the golf ball.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 


 
Question Group 3
Question 7
Consider this situation:  A skydiver is falling towards the ground at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the skydiver.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 8
Consider this situation:  A feather is falling towards the ground at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the feather.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 9
Consider this situation:  A coffee filter is falling towards the ground at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the coffee filter.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 


 
Question Group 4
Question 10
Consider this situation:  A bucket of water, attached to a rope, is being pulled upward out of a well.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the bucket.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 11
Consider this situation:  Four ropes, each attached to the end of a freight elevator, are used to pull the small elevator upward through a wide elevator shaft.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the elevator.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 12
Consider this situation:  A rope is used to lift an actor upward off the stage.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the actor.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question Group 5
Question 13
Consider this situation:  A force is applied to a box to move it to the right across the kitchen floor.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the box.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 14
Consider this situation:  A custodian pushes a large crate across the gym floor.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the crate.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 15
Consider this situation:  A team of landscapers pull an unplanted tree across the lawn.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the tree.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 


 
Question Group 6
Question 16
Consider this situation:  A moving car skids to a stop with the wheels locked across a level roadway.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the car.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 17
Consider this situation:  A moving shuffle board disk skids to a stop across an asphalt surface.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the disk.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 18
Consider this situation:  A baseball player dives head-first into second base and slows down while sliding on the infield dirt.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the player.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 

 
 
Question Group 7
Question 19
Consider this situation:  A sledder is moving to the right across unpacked snow and skidding to a stop.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the sledder.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 20
Consider this situation:  A book is sliding to a stop while moving across the classroom floor.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the book.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 21
Consider this situation:  A root beer mug is slowing down as it slides across the counter top.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the mug.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 

 
Question Group 8
Question 22
Consider this situation:  A trapeze artist is swinging from a rope that is attached to the ceiling.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the trapeze artist.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 23
Consider this situation:  A child is holding onto a tree rope and swinging through the air.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the child.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 24
Consider this situation:  A pendulum bob, attached by a string to a pivot point, is swinging back and forth.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the pendulum bob.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 

 
 
Question Group 9
Question 25
Consider this situation:  A block is at rest on an inclined plane.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the block.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 26
Consider this situation:  A book is at rest on a gently-inclined ramp;
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the book.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 27
Consider this situation:  A large crate is at rest on a ramp at a loading dock.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the crate.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 

 
Question Group 10
Question 28
Consider this situation:  A child pulls a sled by a rope across the lawn at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the sled.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 29
Consider this situation:  A father uses a rope to pull a child on a sled at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the child.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force

 
 
Question 30
Consider this situation:  A student attaches a rope to his book bag and drags the bag across the floor at a constant speed.
 
Of the forces listed, identify which act upon the bag.
a. Normal Force
b. Gravity Force
c. Applied Force
d. Friction Force
e. Tension Force
​f. Air Resistance Force