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Normal force

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325:(about 9.81 m/s on Earth). The normal force here represents the force applied by the table against the object that prevents it from sinking through the table and requires that the table be sturdy enough to deliver this normal force without breaking. However, it is easy to assume that the normal force and weight are action-reaction force pairs (a common mistake). In this case, the normal force and weight need to be equal in magnitude to explain why there is no upward acceleration of the object. For example, a ball that bounces upwards accelerates upwards because the normal force acting on the ball is larger in magnitude than the weight of the ball. 235: 849:
person feel heavier). In an elevator that is accelerating downward, the normal force is less than the person's ground weight and so a passenger's perceived weight decreases. If a passenger were to stand on a weighing scale, such as a conventional bathroom scale, while riding the elevator, the scale will be reading the normal force it delivers to the passenger's feet, and will be different than the person's ground weight if the elevator cab is
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caused by and perpendicular to the normal force acting on the passengers against the walls results in suspension of the passengers above the floor as the ride rotates. In such a scenario, the walls of the ride apply normal force to the passengers in the direction of the center, which is a result of
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In an elevator either stationary or moving at constant velocity, the normal force on the person's feet balances the person's weight. In an elevator that is accelerating upward, the normal force is greater than the person's ground weight and so the person's perceived weight increases (making the
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Where an object rests on an incline as in Figures 1 and 2, the normal force is perpendicular to the plane the object rests on. Still, the normal force will be as large as necessary to prevent sinking through the surface, presuming the surface is sturdy enough. The strength of the force can be
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parallel to the ground. In another common situation, if an object hits a surface with some speed, and the surface can withstand the impact, the normal force provides for a rapid deceleration, which will depend on the flexibility of the surface and the object.
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On the more macroscopic level, such surfaces can be treated as a single object, and two bodies do not penetrate each other due to the stability of matter, which is again a consequence of Pauli exclusion principle, but also of the
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In the case of an object resting upon a flat table (unlike on an incline as in Figures 1 and 2), the normal force on the object is equal but in opposite direction to the gravitational force applied on the object (or the
690: 221:. If the person stands on a slope and does not sink into the ground or slide downhill, the total ground reaction force can be divided into two components: a normal force perpendicular to the ground and a 916:
applied to the passengers as the ride rotates. As a result of the normal force experienced by the passengers, the static friction between the passengers and the walls of the ride counteracts the pull of
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between the atoms; the atoms themselves do not disintegrate because of the electromagnetic forces between the electrons and the nuclei; and the nuclei do not disintegrate due to the nuclear forces.
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at the surfaces of the objects. The atoms in the two surfaces cannot penetrate one another without a large investment of energy because there is no low energy state for which the electron
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When we define the center of the ride to be the positive direction, solving for the normal force on a passenger that is suspended above ground yields the following equation:
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up or down. The weighing scale measures normal force (which varies as the elevator cab accelerates), not gravitational force (which does not vary as the cab accelerates).
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The normal force is one of the several forces which act on the object. In the simple situations so far considered, the most important other forces acting on it are
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With the normal force known, we can solve for the static coefficient of friction needed to maintain a net force of zero in the vertical direction:
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from the two surfaces overlap; thus no microscopic force is needed to prevent this penetration. However these interactions are often modeled as
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can be found by scaling the normal direction by the net surface interaction force. The surface interaction force, in turn, is equal to the
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Lieb, E. H. (1991). The stability of matter. In The Stability of Matter: From Atoms to Stars (pp. 483-499). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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unless there were a countervailing force from the resistance of the platform's molecules, a force which is named the "normal force".
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on the passengers, resulting in suspension above ground of the passengers throughout the duration of the ride.
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meaning "ordinary" or "expected". A person standing still on a platform is acted upon by
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that is perpendicular to the surface that an object contacts. In this instance
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Force exerted on an object by a body with which it is in contact, and vice versa
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and solving for the normal force on a passenger yields the following equation:
904: 151: 17: 828:, a force that grows very large very quickly as distance becomes smaller. 817: 695: 423: 222: 195: 918: 685:{\displaystyle N_{i}=n_{i}N=n_{i}T_{j}n_{j}=n_{i}n_{k}\tau _{jk}n_{j}.} 427: 207: 274: 419:
is the angle of the inclined surface measured from the horizontal.
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The parallel shear component of the contact force is known as the
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When we define upward to be the positive direction, constructing
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for an object on an inclined plane can be calculated as follows:
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is the distance of the passenger from the center of the ride.
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describing the stress state of the surface. That is:
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Macmillan. p. 101. 1171:Pearson IIT Foundation Series: Physics 989:is the normal force on the passenger, 773:{\displaystyle \mu _{s}=\tan(\theta )} 1197:; Franklin, William Suddards (1898). 1173:. India: Pearson. pp. 3.1–3.37. 1130:is the gravitational field strength. 962:{\displaystyle N={\frac {mv^{2}}{r}}} 808:Normal force is directly a result of 373:{\displaystyle F_{n}=mg\cos(\theta )} 7: 1226:Bettini, Alessandro (8 April 2016). 1083:{\displaystyle \mu ={\frac {mg}{N}}} 58:adding citations to reliable sources 264:) and the acceleration of gravity ( 25: 543: 527: 518: 507: 499: 490: 478: 470: 217:The normal force is one type of 34: 45:needs additional citations for 1009:is the mass of the passenger, 888: 876: 767: 761: 547: 523: 511: 495: 367: 361: 1: 834:fundamental forces of nature 458:of the unit normal with the 446:, in the normal direction, 323:gravitational field strength 411:is the mass of the object, 1279: 1195:Nichols, Edward Leamington 450:, and so the normal force 1230:. Springer. p. 110. 810:Pauli exclusion principle 277:of the object), that is, 251:), and the normal force ( 242:), the frictional force ( 894:{\displaystyle N=m(g+a)} 306:{\displaystyle F_{n}=mg} 1200:The Elements of Physics 793:{\displaystyle \theta } 733:coefficient of friction 1124: 1104: 1084: 1043: 1023: 1003: 983: 963: 895: 844:Practical applications 794: 774: 722: 721:{\displaystyle F_{fr}} 686: 557: 401: 374: 307: 269: 184:is the component of a 178: 147: 1125: 1105: 1085: 1044: 1024: 1004: 984: 964: 896: 812:and not a true force 795: 775: 723: 687: 558: 407:is the normal force, 402: 400:{\displaystyle F_{n}} 375: 308: 237: 219:ground reaction force 179: 177:{\displaystyle F_{n}} 135: 1114: 1103:{\displaystyle \mu } 1094: 1056: 1033: 1013: 993: 973: 928: 907:amusement ride, the 864: 784: 739: 702: 571: 466: 460:Cauchy stress tensor 384: 333: 281: 161: 54:improve this article 858:Newton's second law 826:van der Waals force 1120: 1100: 1080: 1039: 1019: 999: 979: 959: 891: 790: 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Index

Normal Force

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"Normal force"
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mechanics
contact force
normal
geometric
perpendicular
gravity
Earth's core
ground reaction force
frictional force

weight
gravitational field strength
friction
gravity
vector
dot product
Cauchy stress tensor

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