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v. t. e. A force is an influence that can cause an object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. The concept of force makes the everyday notion of pushing or pulling mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and direction of a force are both important, force is a vector quantity.
Moreover, words which are synonymous in everyday speech are not so in physics: force is not the same as power or pressure, for example, and mass has a different meaning than weight. [11] [12]: 150 The physics concept of force makes quantitative the everyday idea of a push or a pull. Forces in Newtonian mechanics are often due to strings and ...
Force field (physics) Plot of a two-dimensional slice of the gravitational potential in and around a uniform spherical body. The inflection points of the cross-section are at the surface of the body. In physics, a force field is a vector field corresponding with a non-contact force acting on a particle at various positions in space ...
Physics is the natural science of matter, involving the study of matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. [1] Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines. [2] [3] [4] A scientist who specializes in the field of physics is called a physicist.
In mechanics, the net force is the sum of all the forces acting on an object. For example, if two forces are acting upon an object in opposite directions, and one force is greater than the other, the forces can be replaced with a single force that is the difference of the greater and smaller force. That force is the net force.
Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes its speed or direction to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newton in his first law of motion (also known as The Principle of Inertia). [1]
Figure 2: Weight (W), the frictional force (F r), and the normal force (F n) acting on a block.Weight is the product of mass (m) and the acceleration of gravity (g).In the case of an object resting upon a flat table (unlike on an incline as in Figures 1 and 2), the normal force on the object is equal but in opposite direction to the gravitational force applied on the object (or the weight of ...
In physics, the line of action (also called line of application) of a force (F→) is a geometric representation of how the force is applied. It is the straight line through the point at which the force is applied, and is in the same direction as the vector F→. [1][2] The concept is essential, for instance, for understanding the net effect of ...