force

Also known as mass times acceleration

In physics, a force is an action that can cause an object to change its velocity or its shape, or to resist other forces, or to cause changes of pressure in a fluid. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and direction of a force are both important, force is a vector quantity (force vector). The SI unit of force is the newton (N), and force is often represented by the symbol .

AI overview

A force is a push or pull that can change how fast or in what direction an object is moving, change its shape, or affect fluids and other forces. Because both how strong a force is and which direction it points matter, scientists use vectors to represent forces mathematically, measuring them in units called newtons.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Physical quantity.name: Force
Physical quantity.image: 200px
Physical quantity.caption: Forces can be described as a push or pull on an object. They can be due to phenomena such as gravity, magnetism, or anything that might cause a mass to accelerate.
Physical quantity.unit: newton (N)
Physical quantity.otherunits: dyne, pound-force, poundal, kip, kilopond
Physical quantity.symbols: \vec F, ,
Physical quantity.baseunits: kg·m·s−2
Physical quantity.dimension: wikidata

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Force examples.svg

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Forces (physics)
quantity symbol (string): F
Stack Exchange tag: physics.stackexchange.com/tags/forces

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~59 min read

Article

40 sections

Contents

Development of the concept
Pre-Newtonian concepts
Newtonian mechanics
First law
Second law
Third law
Defining "force"
Combining forces
Equilibrium
Static
Dynamic
Examples of forces in classical mechanics
Gravitational force or Gravity
Electromagnetic
Normal
Friction
Tension
Spring
Centripetal
Continuum mechanics
Fictitious
Concepts derived from force
Rotation and torque
Yank
Kinematic integrals
Potential energy
Conservation
Units
Revisions of the force concept
Special theory of relativity
Quantum mechanics
Quantum field theory
Fundamental interactions
Gravitational
Electromagnetic
Strong nuclear
Weak nuclear
See also
References
External links

Force plays an important role in classical mechanics. The concept of force is central to all three of Newton's laws of motion. Types of forces often encountered in classical mechanics include elastic, frictional, contact or "normal" forces, and gravitational. The rotational version of force is torque, which produces changes in the rotational speed of an object. In an extended body, each part applies forces on the adjacent parts; the distribution of such forces through the body is the internal mechanical stress. In the case of multiple forces, if the net force on an extended body is zero the body is in equilibrium.