All Questions
6
questions
1
vote
3
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101
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Meaning of "$=$" in $\vec{F}=m\vec{a}$ (for example)
I don't understand how the two could really be one and the same. E.g. we can exert forces $\vec{F}$ and $-\vec{F}$ on a body and it's acceleration will not change. I don't think it makes sense to say ...
- 21
1
vote
4
answers
631
views
What is the formula for the force of friction as a vector?
The formula I've grown up with is $F_{fr} = \mu F_{N}$, where
$\mu$ is the coefficient of friction between the object and the surface
$F_{N}$ is the normal force of the surface acting upon the object
...
- 13
3
votes
2
answers
684
views
Circularity In Definition Of Force?
So my college physics book defines a force as a push/pull, but mainly a vector quantity, having both magnitude (strength) and direction.
Yet it also defines the unit of a Newton, as THE FORCE, ...
- 379
0
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Why do we multiply $\cos θ$ in the formula for work? [duplicate]
I know that the formula for work, $W = FS\cos\theta$, where $F$ is the applied force, $S$ is the displacement of the object and $\theta$ is the angle between the applied force and the displacement of ...
2
votes
4
answers
205
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Basic question: intuition about $W = F \cdot T$
I find it written many places that "you can find the work along a short segment of the path by taking the dot product of the force and the tangent vector."
I can solve these problems, but I ...
- 53
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Difference between a vector field and a force field
In mathematics while learning about vector fields, we define a "vector field" as "a function of space whose value at each point is a vector quantity". That is, at each point in space there is a vector ...
- 772