Question: What is the unit for measuring force in the SI system of measurement?...

Question

What is the unit for measuring force in the SI system of measurement?

Answer 1

Solution

First we have to know the definition of force which is an external agent applied on a body to change its state. Then write the formula of force which is the product of mass of the body with the acceleration. Now convert the acceleration in terms of velocity and time then velocity into displacement by time and finally write the units of each simplified term so as to find the unit of force.

Complete step by step answer:
Force:
In simple words, force in physics is defined as the push or pull on an object with mass that causes a change in its velocity. Force is an external agent which is capable of changing the states of the body from rest to motion or from motion to rest. The direction towards which the force is applied to the body is called the direction of the force while the application of force on the body is the point where the force is applied. It is calculated by multiplying a body’s acceleration with its mass.
Mathematically we can represent the force as,
$F = ma \ldots \ldots \left( 1 \right)$
Where,
Force = F
Mass of the body = m
Acceleration of the body due to the applied force = a
Now we know the SI unit of mass equal to kg.
We can represent the acceleration in terms of velocity and time as,
$a = \dfrac{v}{t}$
Again we can write velocity as,
$v = \dfrac{d}{t}$
Now putting the v value in the acceleration formula we will get,
$a = \dfrac{d}{{{t^2}}}$
We know the SI unit of displacement is meter and time is second.
Hence the SI unit of acceleration is meter per second square.
Now applying all this SI unit in equation $\left( 1 \right)$ we will get,
$F = m\dfrac{d}{{{t^2}}}$
$F = \left[ {\dfrac{{kg\,m}}{{{s^2}}}} \right] = kg\,m\,{s^{ - 2}} = N$
Hence the SI unit of force is Newton (N).

Note: From the solution note that each kilogram of mass we must apply one Newton of force so as to cause the mass to accelerate to one meter per second square. Remember that there are seven fundamental dimensions in physics that are mass, length, time, temperature, electric current, amount of light and amount of matter. SI units are used as it is common to the people of the entire world.