Question

Name the forces involved in the following situations and categorize them as contact and non-contact forces.

Answer 1

We have to touch the strings with your fingers to apply force on them. Therefore this is an example of a contact force.
A magnet has a magnetic field around it. The iron nails stick to the magnet because the magnet attracts them with a magnetic force of attraction.
The magnet doesn’t make actual contact with the nails to pull them towards them. So the force exerted on the nails is a non-contact force.
The satellite keeps revolving around the earth in a circular orbit because the earth attracts the satellite with gravitational force of attraction.
The earth doesn’t have to make contact with the satellite in order to pull it towards it. So the gravitational pull is a non-contact force.
When a man pushes a cart, he applies muscular force on the cart with his arms in the forward direction touching the cart with his hands. And the cart has wheels which can rotate without slipping because of friction. The frictional force acts between the contact of the wheels and the ground.
So pushing a cart is an example of contact force.