What is pulling?

What is pulling? Pulling is when something moves toward you because another thing is tugging it.

Imagine you're holding a rope, and your friend is on the other end. When your friend starts to walk away, they’re pulling the rope, and that makes you feel like you're being tugged toward them too! It's like when you play tug-of-war: if one side pulls harder, they move closer to the middle.

How pulling works

Think of a toy car. If you grab its string and pull it, the car moves toward you because your hand is pulling it. The harder you pull, the faster the car goes, just like when you're trying to get your brother's favorite toy back!

You can also feel pulling in everyday life: when you open a door by pulling it toward you, or when you lift something up using a string or a handle.

Pulling is all around us, and it’s super simple once you think about it, just like tugging on a rope!

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A child pulling a wagon across the park.
  2. A dog tugging at a leash.
  3. A magnet attracting another metal object.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity

Categories: Science · force· motion· physics