If the resultant of various forces acting on a body is zero, the forces are said to be ‘balanced forces’. These forces do not change the speed but usually change the shape of an object.
Examples:
(a) Consider a wooden block lying on a table, the strings tied to its two opposite faces, as shown in the figure.
If we pull at point P, it begins to move towards left. If we pull at point Q, it begins to move towards right. But if we pull from both the sides with equal force, the block does not move. The two forces have now balanced each other.
(b) In a tug-of-war, the two teams pull the rope with equal effort; the rope is not moved in any direction. This is clearly because the forces exerted by the two teams are equal and opposite and thus get balanced.
