The term free body is usually associated wih the notion of a free body diagram, a pictorial device used by physicists and engineers. In that context, a body is said to be "free" when it is singled out from other bodies for the purposes of dynamic or static analysis. The object does not have to be "free" in the sense of being unforced, and it may or may not be in a state of equilibrium. The object is said to be free in the sense that it has been singled out, identified, as the body of interest.
Famous quotes containing the words free and/or body:
“Everyone asks for freedom for himself,
The man free love, the businessman free trade,
The writer and talker free speech and free press.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth, what violent muscular action is to the body of man. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with force and convulsive energy, full of expression, passion, and strength.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)