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:
where 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 = r/||r|| is the corresponding unit vector.
Equivalently, a force field is central if and only if it is spherically symmetric.
Read more about Central Force: Properties, Examples
Famous quotes containing the words central and/or force:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“The more we reduce ourselves to machines in the lower things, the more force we shall set free to use in the higher.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)