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Every time you push or pull, you are exerting a force. When you exert a force, you change its speed, direction or shape. Gravity is a force. It causes unsupported objects to fall towards the earth. The usual method to measure the force of gravity is to balance it with another force upward. (bathroom scale) Forces are measured in a unit called the newton (N), which was named after Sir Isaac Newton. The force opposing motion is called friction. About 400 years ago, Galileo Galilei (1546-1642) suggested that if there was no friction, an object, once moving would continue moving at the same speed and in the same direction indefinately. |
