Free-Body Diagrams
In each case, a rock is acted on by one or more forces. All drawings are in a vertical
plane, and friction is negligible except where noted. Draw accurate free-body diagrams
showing all forces acting on the rock. Please use a ruler, and do it in pencil so you can
correct mistakes. The first one is done as an example.
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
Free Body Diagrams
Teacher Notes
This activity was included because it is often difficult to find examples of free body
diagrams to assign as practice for the students. Some of them are easy and some are
difficult. Feel free to use only the ones that you think will benefit your students.
When drawing the answers to the Free Body Diagrams, an arbitrary vector length was
chosen to represent the weight of the Rock. All other lengths are drawn relative to the
length of the weight vector so that the resultant vector could be correctly drawn to scale.
The original article did not include an answer key. These answers have been provided by
Jan Mader and Mary Winn.
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993
104-108 THE PHYSICS TEACHER
Feb. 1993