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AS 9702 · 4.1 · Forces · Lesson bundle

Moments, the turning effect of a force

Where a force acts, made lesson-ready: the moment of a force is its turning effect about a pivot, the principle of moments balances a beam, and a couple turns without any resultant force. Plan, worksheet with answers, slides, and a Mix-Pair-Share activity, built around the door-handle model and the site simulation The Turning Effect of a Force.

Syllabus
9702, 4.1
Level
AS
Duration
60 minutes
Activity
Mix-Pair-Share
Core visual
A door handle far from the hinges
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Every part, two ways

Each part of the bundle opens right here on the site, projectable in any browser, and downloads as an editable file, never a locked PDF. Adapt them to your set, your timing and your school's calendar.

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Lesson plan

The 60-minute plan, with the moment of a force, the principle of moments, couples and torque, a force at an angle, four worked examples, examiner traps and differentiation.

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Worksheet and answers

Original AS questions across recall, moments, the principle of moments, couples and an angled force, with a full worked answer key.

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Slides

Your actual slides, presented right in the browser, with the live simulation linked beneath; the download is fully editable.

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21st century skills activity

A Mix-Pair-Share on balancing moments with a prompt set of increasing difficulty and teacher answers, plus the PIES rationale and a facilitation guide, so it runs faithfully.

The matching topic page and simulation

Send learners to the lesson online

This bundle pairs with the student topic page Turning effects of forces, which carries the interactive explanation, and with the site simulation The Turning Effect of a Force, which lets learners move forces along a beam and watch the moments balance.

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How it is built

Where a force acts matters

The recurring slips here are using the distance along the arm instead of the perpendicular distance, and taking moments about an awkward point. The lesson fixes both with the door-handle model and a clean rule: only the perpendicular distance counts, and the principle of moments holds about any point.

The Mix-Pair-Share then has every learner explain a balancing problem to a new partner each round, so the reasoning is rehearsed aloud many times. It ships with a prompt set of increasing difficulty and teacher answers, so it can be run faithfully.

Original work by the TheLucidSTEM team. Questions are written in the style of the papers; no past paper question is reproduced. Supplied in editable formats so you can adapt them freely.
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