Forces and Motion
MYP Year 2 Sciences — Forces and Motion (Physics strand)
Every question on this topic is secretly asking the same three things: what's making the object speed up, slow down, or stay put — and can you show it with numbers or a diagram? Toy cars on ramps, blocks dragged across carpet, a distance-time curve that flattens out near the end — underneath the props it's always friction, net force, or reading a gradient correctly. Get precise with force names (never just "the force") and treat graph shape as speed information, and this stops being six separate ideas and becomes one physical story.
Overview — The Shape of This Topic
Forces and motion in MYP Year 2 is built from two skills examiners test relentlessly: (1) can you read a distance-time graph as a speed story, and (2) can you correctly name which force is doing what, then add forces up with direction in mind. Almost every exam question — toy cars, blocks on force meters, sliding books — is a variation of these two skills wrapped in a different everyday object.
- Friction, air resistance and drag are all the same family: contact/fluid forces that oppose motion.
- Speed, velocity and acceleration are the three numbers you calculate to describe HOW an object is moving.
- Force diagrams and net force are how you combine multiple forces into one overall answer.
- Balanced vs unbalanced forces is the single idea that decides whether something accelerates at all.
The shape of the chapter
Command terms that actually appear in this topic's questions
| Command term | What it demands | AO | Mark-earning move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identify | Give a short, factual answer straight from data or observation — no reasoning required. | AO1 | One correct pattern/fact = full marks; extra explanation earns nothing extra. |
| Describe | Give a detailed account that references the actual data or trend direction. | AO1/AO2 | Must quote the data direction (e.g. 'as roughness increases, distance decreases'), not just 'they are different'. |
| Explain | Give reasons — cause AND effect linked in one chain. | AO3 | 1 mark for naming the force, 1 mark for linking it to the observed effect. Naming the force alone caps you at half marks. |
| Calculate | Show substitution into a formula and give a final answer with a unit. | AO2 | Marks for correct substitution AND correct unit; a bald final answer with no working risks the method mark. |
| Estimate | Give a reasoned approximate value using the given data as reference points. | AO2 | Must justify the value's position relative to given data — a value outside the given range loses the mark even with good reasoning. |
| Compare | State similarities AND differences between two things. | AO2 | A one-sided answer (only differences, or only similarities) loses marks. |
Key point
Overview