Explain how normal reaction and tension are electromagnetic in nature.
Dear Student,
The network of atoms that is my body tries to go right through the network of atoms that is the floor. Atoms are made up of a positively charged nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The electrons of my body repel the electrons of the floor, the electrons of my body attract the protons of the floor, the protons of my foot repel the protons of the floor and the protons of my foot attract the electrons of the floor. The net result of these complicated interactions is that when my foot is pushed against the floor, the floor and the foot repel each other with a net force. nullFigure 1 This force is electromagnetic in nature. It is called Normal Reaction for reasons lost in antiquity. ( It is neither!) Due to the unfortunate choice of its name, students ( and often, teachers ) tend to think that it is the reaction force to gravity.
a string or rope under “tension exerts electromagnetic forces on the bodies attached at the two ends to pull them.
Regards
The network of atoms that is my body tries to go right through the network of atoms that is the floor. Atoms are made up of a positively charged nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The electrons of my body repel the electrons of the floor, the electrons of my body attract the protons of the floor, the protons of my foot repel the protons of the floor and the protons of my foot attract the electrons of the floor. The net result of these complicated interactions is that when my foot is pushed against the floor, the floor and the foot repel each other with a net force. nullFigure 1 This force is electromagnetic in nature. It is called Normal Reaction for reasons lost in antiquity. ( It is neither!) Due to the unfortunate choice of its name, students ( and often, teachers ) tend to think that it is the reaction force to gravity.
a string or rope under “tension exerts electromagnetic forces on the bodies attached at the two ends to pull them.
Regards