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Class 8 Science: forces and pressure, 8 practice questions with answers

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These are 8 practice questions on forces and pressure for Class 8, each with a short answer and the textbook page it comes from. In the current NCERT Class 8 Science book, Curiosity (Reprint 2026-27), forces are in Chapter 5, Exploring Forces (pages 62 to 79), and pressure is in Chapter 6, Pressure, Winds, Storms, and Cyclones (pages 80 to 97). Questions 1 to 6 are on forces and questions 7 and 8 are on pressure. Try each one before you read the answer.

These questions are our own, drafted with AI help. Every number was re-computed by a test script and every statement was checked against the chapter, but no practising teacher has reviewed them yet. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

Forces (Chapter 5)

Question 1. A mango falls from a tree to the ground. Which force pulls it down? (Gravitational force, friction, or muscular force.)

Answer: gravitational force. The Earth pulls every object towards itself; this pull is the gravitational force, also called gravity. It acts without touching the mango. (Chapter 5, page 72: the force with which the Earth attracts objects is the gravitational force.)

Question 2. Which of these forces can act on an object without touching it? (Friction, muscular force, or magnetic force.)

Answer: magnetic force. A magnet can push or pull another magnet from a distance, so it is a non-contact force. Friction and muscular force need contact. (Section 5.4.2, Non-contact forces, page 69.)

Question 3. A notebook is pushed and slides towards the east on a table. In which direction does friction act on it?

Answer: towards the west. Friction always acts in the direction opposite to the one in which the object is moving or trying to move, so it slows the notebook down. (Page 68.)

Question 4. On a spring balance, the bigger marks are 1 N apart, and the gap between them is split into 4 equal small divisions. What is the smallest weight it can read, in N?

Answer: 0.25 N. One small division is the difference between the big marks divided by the number of divisions: 1 N ÷ 4 = 0.25 N. (The textbook shows the method with 5 divisions, 1 N ÷ 5 = 0.2 N, in Activity 5.11, page 74.)

Question 5. A 1 kg object weighs about 10 N on the Earth but only about 1.6 N on the Moon (table, page 75). What is its mass on the Moon? (Less than 1 kg, more than 1 kg, or 1 kg, the same as on the Earth.)

Answer: 1 kg, the same as on the Earth. Mass, the matter an object contains, stays the same; only the weight changes, because the pull of gravity is different. (Summary, page 77: the mass of an object remains unchanged whereas its weight may vary from place to place.)

Question 6. The weight of an object on the Moon is one-sixth of its weight on the Earth. An object weighs 60 N on the Earth. What does it weigh on the Moon, and what is its mass on the Moon compared with its mass on the Earth?

Answer: Weight on the Moon = 60 N ÷ 6 = 10 N. Its mass is the same as on the Earth: mass does not change, only weight does. (The one-sixth fact is in the Chapter 5 exercises, question 9, page 78; the mass statement is in the summary, page 77.)

Pressure (Chapter 6)

The textbook defines pressure as the force per unit area (page 81), so pressure = force ÷ area. The SI unit of pressure is newton per square metre (N/m²), also called the pascal, Pa (page 82). The textbook's example is two school bags with the same weight: the one with broader straps is more comfortable because the force is spread over a larger area (page 81).

Question 7. A force of 600 N acts at right angles on a surface of area 0.5 m². What is the pressure?

Answer: Pressure = force ÷ area = 600 N ÷ 0.5 m² = 1,200 N/m², that is 1,200 Pa. (Pressure as force per unit area and the pascal: pages 81 and 82. The textbook's own example uses 100 N on 2 m², giving 50 N/m².)

Question 8. Why are overhead water tanks placed at a height?

Answer: The pressure a liquid exerts depends on the height of its column, and the pressure at the bottom grows as the column gets taller. An overhead tank is placed high so that the pressure at the taps is higher, which gives a good stream of water. (Chapter 6, page 84.)

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Sources

All opened and read on 21 October 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook.

The definitions and facts are from the textbook pages above. The questions, worked answers and checks are our own. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and the textbook.