Question

What is a force? State its various types.

Answer 1

Force:

1. The push or pull experienced by an object when it interacts with another object results in the change of state, either from rest or from uniform motion.
2. It is a vector quantity that has magnitude and direction.
3. It can change the direction of motion of the body and can also change the shape and size of the body involved in the interaction.

Types of force:

There are two kinds of forces that are as follows:

1. Contact forces

1. Those forces are the consequence of two bodies coming into physical contact and one exerting a force on the other.
2. Example: Frictional force
3. The examples of the contact forces are given in the figure below.

2. Non-contact forces

1. Those forces act through the space between the two objects rather than through physical contact.
2. Example: Gravitational force, Electrostatic force
3. The examples of the non-contact forces are given in the figure below.