Login

what does central force mean?

A force is said to be central if it is always directed towards a fixed point. In the above figure we see that the 1st body is pulling the second body directed towards its centre.

Thus 

  • 0
View Full Answer

In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force whose magnitude only depends on the distance r of the object from the origin and is directed along the line joining them.

  • 1

In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force whose magnitude only depends on the distance r of the object from theorigin and is directed along the line joining them: [1]

vec{F} = mathbf{F}(mathbf{r}) = F( ||mathbf{r}|| ) hat{mathbf{r}}

where  scriptstyle vec{ text{ F } }  is the force, F is a vector valued force function, F is a scalar valued force function, r is the position vector, ||r|| is its length, and  scriptstyle hat{mathbf{r}} = r/||r|| is the corresponding unit vector.

Equivalently, a force field is central if and only if it is spherically symmetric

  • 2
What are you looking for?