Physics activity question????.....Force

[maverick2112]

Definition of Force
What is a force? There are contact and non-contact forces? Can you give an example of each? Is force a vector?

 

[Chanman]

Your physic book should answer this, but if I remember correctly a F, (=m X a), has magnitude & direction. It is also a vector. A scalar has only magnitude & no direction, such as time.

 

[CryBoy]

"May the force be with you" is all I know about this topic.

 

[Nosigar]

Your physic book should answer this, but if I remember correctly a F, (=m X a), has magnitude & direction. It is also a vector. A scalar has only magnitude & no direction, such as time.

Correct, Force is a vector, therefore derivable.

Also, when you say contact forces and non-contact forces I assume you're talking about possibly electro-magnetic forces as non-contact (for example).

 

[KotysDad]

I would have guessed gravity to be a non-contact force. (?) If a box sits on a table, you have a 'normal' force that the table exerts on the box in an upward direction (which is definitely a contact force, although I never heard it referred to in that terminology before this post). The force of gravity in the downward direction I guess could be considered "non-contact", but I could be wrong. It's just a guess.