What are Balanced Forces?

From gravity keeping the planets in orbit around the Sun in our solar system, to you pulling your front door open, forces are everywhere! These forces have a direct impact on an object's motion. In order to best predict and explain the motion of objects, we must first look closer at the forces acting upon objects. For example, if the total of all the forces acting on an object, or net force, equals zero, an object’s motion will not change. This is called a balanced force. In other situations, when the net force acting on an object does not equal zero, the object’s motion will change. This is called an unbalanced force. In this lesson, students will engage in an investigation to obtain, analyze, and communicate evidence of the effects that balanced and unbalanced forces have on the motion of objects.