Force diagrams

What is force diagrams?

A force diagram (or free-body diagram) shows all forces acting on a single object as arrows with direction and labelled magnitude. Used to apply Newton's laws to mechanics problems. For an object at rest, forces sum to zero (equilibrium). For an accelerating object, the resultant force ΣF = ma. GCSE Physics examines simple cases (object on a ramp, suspended object); A-Level extends to resolving forces into components on inclined planes and circular-motion problems.