Drawing Free-Body Diagrams

Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative magnitude and direction of all forces
acting upon an object in a given situation. A free-body diagram is a special example of the vector
diagrams that were discussed in an earlier unit. These diagrams will be used throughout our
study of physics. The size of the arrow in a free-body diagram reflects the magnitude of the
force. The direction of the arrow shows the direction that the force is acting. Each force arrow in
the diagram is labeled to indicate the exact type of force. It is generally customary in a free-body
diagram to represent the object by a box and to draw the force arrow from the center of the box
outward in the direction that the force is acting. An example of a free-body diagram is shown at
the right.
The free-body diagram above depicts four forces acting upon the object. Objects do not
necessarily always have four forces acting upon them. There will be cases in which the number
of forces depicted by a free-body diagram will be one, two, or three. There is no hard and fast
rule about the number of forces that must be drawn in a free-body diagram. The only rule for
drawing free-body diagrams is to depict all the forces that exist for that object in the given
situation. Thus, to construct free-body diagrams, it is extremely important to know the various
types of forces. If given a description of a physical situation, begin by using your understanding
of the force types to identify which forces are present. Then determine the direction in which
each force is acting. Finally, draw a box and add arrows for each existing force in the appropriate
direction; label each force arrow according to its type. If necessary, refer to the list of forces and
their description in order to understand the various force types and their appropriate symbols.

Answers
Answers to the above exercise are shown here. If you have difficulty drawing free-body
diagrams, then you ought to be concerned. Continue to review the the list of forces and their
description and this page in order to gain a comfort with constructing free-body diagrams.

1. A book is at rest on a tabletop. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:

2. A girl is suspended motionless from the ceiling by two ropes. A free-body diagram for this
situation looks like this:

3. An egg is free-falling from a nest in a tree. Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram for this
situation looks like this:

4. A flying squirrel is gliding (no wing flaps) from a tree to the ground at constant velocity.
Consider air resistance. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:

5. A rightward force is applied to a book in order to move it across a desk with a rightward
acceleration. Consider frictional forces. Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram for this
situation looks like this:

6. A rightward force is applied to a book in order to move it across a desk at constant velocity.
Consider frictional forces. Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram for this situation looks
like this:

7. A college student rests a backpack upon his shoulder. The pack is suspended motionless by
one strap from one shoulder. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:

8. A skydiver is descending with a constant velocity. Consider air resistance. A free-body

diagram for this situation looks like this:

9. A force is applied to the right to drag a sled across loosely packed snow with a rightward
acceleration. Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:

10. A football is moving upwards towards its peak after having been booted by the punter.
Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:

11. A car is coasting to the right and slowing down. Neglect air resistance. A free-body diagram
for this situation looks like this:

Types of Forces

A force is a push or pull acting upon an object as a result of its interaction with another
object. There are a variety of types of forces. Previously in this lesson, a variety of force
types were placed into two broad category headings on the basis of whether the force
resulted from the contact or non-contact of the two interacting objects.
Contact Forces
Frictional Force
Tension Force
Normal Force
Air Resistance Force
Applied Force
Spring Force

Action-at-a-Distance Forces
Gravitational Force
Electrical Force
Magnetic Force

These types of individual forces will now be discussed in more detail. To read about
each force listed above, continue scrolling through this page. Or to read about an
individual force, click on its name from the list below.
Type of Force
(and Symbol)
Applied Force

Fapp

Gravity Force

(also known as Weight)

Description of Force
An applied force is a force that is applied to an object by a
person or another object. If a person is pushing a desk
across the room, then there is an applied force acting upon
the object. The applied force is the force exerted on the
desk by the person.
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The force of gravity is the force with which the earth, moon,
or other massively large object attracts another object
towards itself. By definition, this is the weight of the object.
All objects upon earth experience a force of gravity that is
directed "downward" towards the center of the earth. The
force of gravity on earth is always equal to the weight of the
object as found by the equation:
Fgrav = m * g
where g = 9.8 N/kg (on Earth)
and m = mass (in kg)

Fgrav

(Caution: do not confuse weight with mass.)

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Normal Force

Fnorm

The normal force is the support force exerted upon an

object that is in contact with another stable object. For
example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the
surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order
to support the weight of the book. On occasions, a normal
force is exerted horizontally between two objects that are in
contact with each other. For instance, if a person leans
against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the person.
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Friction Force

Ffrict

The friction force is the force exerted by a surface as an

object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it.
There are at least two types of friction force - sliding and
static friction. Thought it is not always the case, the friction
force often opposes the motion of an object. For example, if
a book slides across the surface of a desk, then the desk
exerts a friction force in the opposite direction of its motion.
Friction results from the two surfaces being pressed
together closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces
between molecules of different surfaces. As such, friction
depends upon the nature of the two surfaces and upon the
degree to which they are pressed together. The maximum
amount of friction force that a surface can exert upon an
object can be calculated using the formula below:
Ffrict = Fnorm
The friction force is discussed in more detail later on this
page.
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Air Resistance Force

Fair

The air resistance is a special type of frictional force that

acts upon objects as they travel through the air. The force of
air resistance is often observed to oppose the motion of an
object. This force will frequently be neglected due to its
negligible magnitude (and due to the fact that it is
mathematically difficult to predict its value). It is most
noticeable for objects that travel at high speeds (e.g., a
skydiver or a downhill skier) or for objects with large surface
areas. Air resistance will be discussed in more detail in
Lesson 3.
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Tension Force

The tension force is the force that is transmitted through a

string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces

acting from opposite ends. The tension force is directed

along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the objects
on the opposite ends of the wire.
Ftens

Spring Force

Fspring

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The spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or
stretched spring upon any object that is attached to it. An
object that compresses or stretches a spring is always acted
upon by a force that restores the object to its rest or
equilibrium position. For most springs (specifically, for those
that are said to obey "Hooke's Law"), the magnitude of the
force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch or
compression of the spring