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Force

Forces are described as pushes or pulls that can cause an object to change its speed or direction (i.e. accelerate). In physics, a force is defined as any influence that causes a change in the motion of an object. A force has both magnitude and direction. Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. Modern physics describes four main forces - strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational - which are transmitted by elementary particles called gauge bosons.

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48 views2 pages

Force

Forces are described as pushes or pulls that can cause an object to change its speed or direction (i.e. accelerate). In physics, a force is defined as any influence that causes a change in the motion of an object. A force has both magnitude and direction. Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. Modern physics describes four main forces - strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational - which are transmitted by elementary particles called gauge bosons.

Uploaded by

santyjatt
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Force

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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For other uses, see Force (disambiguation).

Forces are also 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.

In physics, a force is any influence that causes a free body to undergo a change in speed, a
change in direction, or a change in shape. Force can also be described by intuitive concepts such
as a push or pull that can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to
begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to
deform. A force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity. Newton's second
law, F=ma, can be formulated to state that an object with a constant mass will accelerate in
proportion to the net force acting upon and in inverse proportion to its mass, an approximation
which breaks down near the speed of light. Newton's original formulation is exact, and does not
break down: this version states that the net force acting upon an object is equal to the rate at
which its momentum changes.[1]

Related concepts to accelerating forces include thrust, increasing the velocity of the object, drag,
decreasing the velocity of any object, and torque, causing changes in rotational speed about an
axis. Forces which do not act uniformly on all parts of a body will also cause mechanical
stresses,[2] a technical term for influences which cause deformation of matter. While mechanical
stress can remain embedded in a solid object, gradually deforming it, mechanical stress in a fluid
determines changes in its pressure and volume.[3][4]

Philosophers in antiquity used the concept of force in the study of stationary and moving objects
and simple machines, but thinkers such as Aristotle and Archimedes retained fundamental errors
in understanding force. In part this was due to an incomplete understanding of the sometimes
non-obvious force of friction, and a consequently inadequate view of the nature of natural
motion.[5] A fundamental error was the belief that a force is required to maintain motion, even at
a constant velocity. Most of the previous misunderstandings about motion and force were
eventually corrected by Sir Isaac Newton; with his mathematical insight, he formulated laws of
motion that remained unchanged for nearly three hundred years.[4] By the early 20th century,
Einstein developed a theory of relativity that correctly predicted the action of forces on objects
with increasing momenta near the speed of light, and also provided insight into the forces
produced by gravitation and inertia.

With modern insights into quantum mechanics and technology that can accelerate particles close
to the speed of light, particle physics has devised a Standard Model to describe forces between
particles smaller than atoms. The Standard Model predicts that exchanged particles called gauge
bosons are the fundamental means by which forces are emitted and absorbed. Only four main
interactions are known: in order of decreasing strength, they are: strong, electromagnetic, weak,
and gravitational.[3] High-energy particle physics observations made during the 1970s and 1980s
confirmed that the weak and electromagnetic forces are expressions of a more fundamental
electroweak interaction.[6]

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