What is the definition of Force?

Answer 1

Force is defined as an external agency that changes or tries to change the position of a body. Newton's first law of motion describes the characteristics of force, second law gives the magnitude of force=massxacceleration and the third law tells about the effect of force.

Answer 2

Hi indian62

The definition of a force is provided by Newton's second law:

F = ma

In words, a (net) force produces an acceleration in a mass.

You could make the argument that on its own Newton's second law is circular, and not really a definition at all. This is because the one equation defines both a force (F) and the concept of inertial mass (m), and you can't have a single equation meaningfully define two concepts. However the equivalence principle of einstein's GR allows us to identify inertial mass (which measures resistance to accelerations) with gravitational mass (which measures the coupling strength to gravity).

Forces are the basis of newtonian mechanics, and newton's laws define those forces and tell you how to keep track of them. Other systems of mechanics (eg Lagrangian, Hamiltonian, quantum wave or matrix mechanics, geometrodynamics) don't use forces.

There are four so called fundamental forces. Forces around you every day which produce accelerations are gravitational forces and electromagnetic forces. Forces you don't see everyday but which happen nonetheless are the strong and weak nuclear forces.


Hope this helps!
The Chicken

Answer 3

Strictly speaking, force is defined as the combination of constraints on a system that causes a closed system to not have a time change in momentum. This is called D'Alembert's principle and is the fundamental precursor to Newton's 2nd law, which is cited most usually as:

F= ma

but is actually

F - dp/dt (or the time change in momentum) = 0

For the case that the mass of the system does not change, the m pops out of the derivative and acts only on the velocity giving you:

F = m dv/dt or F = ma

This is an important distinction because all of Langranian mechanics are built on D'Alembert's principle and some dynamical systems (like rockets) don't follow F=ma, because the mass can change.

Answer 4

Main Entry: 1force
Pronunciation: 'fors
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *fortia, from Latin fortis strong
1 a (1) : strength or energy exerted or brought to bear : cause of motion or change : active power (2) capitalized -- used with a number to indicate the strength of the wind according to the Beaufort scale b : moral or mental strength c : capacity to persuade or convince
2 a : military strength b (1) : a body (as of troops or ships) assigned to a military purpose (2) plural : the whole military strength (as of a nation) c : a body of persons or things available for a particular end d : an individual or group having the power of effective action e often capitalized : POLICE FORCE -- usually used with the
3 : violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted upon or against a person or thing
4 a : an agency or influence that if applied to a free body results chiefly in an acceleration of the body and sometimes in elastic deformation and other effects b : any of the natural influences (as electromagnetism, gravity, the strong force, and the weak force) that exist especially between particles and determine the structure of the universe
5 : the quality of conveying impressions intensely in writing or speech
synonym see POWER
- force·less /-l&s/ adjective
- in force
1 : in great numbers
2 : VALID, OPERATIVE

Answer 5

Force is that which can cause physical change It is the capacity to do work in moving a particle from one point to another point..If it is between 2 bodies or charges there can be a force of attraction or repulsion proportional to the product of the masses of the bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

Answer 6

Hello Sitaram,the purpose of force has been introduced by first law and the definition has been derived from the same first law. " Every body continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion along a straight line unless it is compelled by an external force" The statement helps to define the force as: The force is defined as the one which changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion along a straight line. Also right from the first law we come to know about the concept of inertia of material body. Inertia is defined as the inability of a material body to change the state of rest or of uniform motion along a straight line on its own. Of course the second law gives the way to measure that force. Third law explains about the action-reaction pair.

Answer 7

Force = Mass x Acceleration

e.g.

Weight = Mass x Gravitational Acceleration

Answer 8

Force is the attraction between two objects.

Answer 9

it is a push or pull which is responsible for setting in motion an object at rest or to bring to a stop an object in uniform motion.
however if a body is acted upon by several forces it could so happen that their effects are cancelled and the body is at rest

Answer 10

A force is something that causes a mass to accelerate.