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Pushes and pulls

Forces and motion · level 1, lesson 1 of 6

A question to start

How do you open a door? How do you open a drawer? How do you get a friend going on a swing? Each time you do something with your hands. What is it?

The idea

Every time you move something, you push it or you pull it. You push a door shut. You pull a drawer open. You push a swing. You pull a wagon by its handle.

A push or a pull is called a force. Forces are everywhere, even where you cannot see a hand:

  • The ground pushes up on your feet, so you do not sink into it.
  • A magnet pulls a paper clip.
  • The Earth pulls everything down. That pull is called gravity.
a pusha pull

A force always has two things in it: the thing that pushes or pulls, and the thing that is pushed or pulled. Your hand pushes the door. The rope pulls the wagon.

On Mars, a rover moves because its wheels push back on the ground, and the ground pushes the rover forward. Gravity on Mars pulls too, just not as hard as on Earth.

Worked examples

1. Kicking a ball. Your foot pushes the ball. That is a push.

2. Pulling on your socks. Your hands pull the sock up your foot. That is a pull.

3. A dog on a lead. The dog pulls on the lead, and the lead pulls on your hand. Two pulls.

Try it

  1. Is opening a fridge door a push or a pull?
  2. Is kicking a ball a push or a pull?
  3. What pulls a dropped spoon down to the floor?
  4. Name one push and one pull you did today.
Answers
  1. A pull (and you push it shut again).
  2. A push.
  3. Gravity: the Earth's pull.
  4. Anything works, for example pushing a button and pulling a zip.

Common mistake

"Only people and animals make forces." Lots of things push and pull without being alive: a magnet, the wind, the ground under your feet, and the Earth's gravity.

Where it leads