Non-contact force

The force which acts on an object without coming physically in contact with it is called
non-contact force. The most familiar example of a non-contact force is weight. In
contrast a contact force is a force applied to a body by another body that is in contact with
it. However it is to be noted that the origin of all contact forces (such as friction) can be
traced to non-contact forces.

All four known fundamental interactions are non-contact forces:

Gravity, the force of attraction that exists among all bodies that have mass. The force
exerted on each body by the other through weight is proportional to the mass of the first
body times the mass of the second body divided by the square of the distance between
them.
Electromagnetism is the force that causes the interaction between electrically charged
particles; the areas in which this happens are called electromagnetic fields. Examples of
this force include: electricity, magnetism, radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible
light, X-rays and gamma rays. Electromagnetism mediates all chemical, biological,
electrical and electronic processes.
Strong nuclear force: Unlike gravity and electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force is a
short distance force that takes place between fundamental particles within a nucleus. It is
charge independent and acts equally between a proton and a proton, a neutron and a
neutron, and a proton and a neutron. The strong nuclear force is the strongest force in
nature; however, its range is small (acting only over distances of the order of 10 15 m).
The strong nuclear force mediates both nuclear fission and fusion reactions.
Weak nuclear force: The weak nuclear force mediates the decay of a neutron, in which
the neutron decays into a proton and in the process emits a particle and an uncharged
particle called a neutrino. As a result of mediating the decay process, the weak nuclear
force plays a key role in supernova. Both the strong and weak forces form an important
part of quantum mechanics.
Contact force
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
When something is in contact with an object, applying the force it is called a contact
force.Contact force is any force that requires contact to be enforced. Contact forces are
also direct forces. Contact forces are ubiquitous (present, appearing, or found
everywhere) and are responsible for most visible interactions between macroscopic
(visible to the naked eye; not microscopic) collections of matter. Pushing a car up a hill
or kicking a ball or pushing a desk across a room are some of the everyday examples
where contact forces are at work. In the first case the force is continuously applied by the
person on the car, while in the second case the force is delivered in a short impulse.
Certain contact forces describe specific phenomena and are important enough to have
been given unique names. The most common instances of this include friction, normal
force and shear force. A contact force may also be described as the push experienced
when two objects are pressed together.
In the Standard Model of modern physics, the four fundamental forces of nature are
known to be non-contact forces. The strong and weak interaction primarily deal with
forces within atoms, while gravitational effects are only obvious on a macroscopic scale.
Molecular and quantum physics show that the electromagnetic force is the fundamental
interaction responsible for contact forces. The interaction between macroscopic objects
can be roughly described as resulting from the electromagnetic interactions between
protons and electrons of the atomic constituents of these objects. Everyday objects do not
actually touch; rather, contact forces are result of the interactions of the electrons at or
near the surfaces of the objects (exchange force). This includes friction.
What is Non-Contact Force
September 29, 2016 Leave a Comment

In the last article we discussed the basics of force and one of its type, that was Contact Force. In
this post here we are going to talk about the Non-Contact force and their major examples.

When you jump, you always return back to the surface. Why? Is there anything that is holding
your feet when you try to jump? When you throw a ball high up in the air, it reaches the highest
point and then it invariably return back to its thrower on the ground. These occurrences can be
explained by the non-contact force. A non-contact force is a force applied to an object by another
body that is not in direct contact with it. Non-contact forces come into play when objects do not
have physical contact between them or when a force is applied without any interaction. When
compared to the types of contact forces, there are very few non-contact forces.

Types of Non-Contact Forces

Gravitational Force: Gravitational force is responsible for bringing the items we toss into the
air back to earth. When an object is resting on a surface it is exerting a downward force equal to
its weight and this downward force is known as Gravitational force.

The gravitation is a force of attraction that exists between all bodies that have mass. The
gravitational force of the sun keeps the Earth and all the other planets of the solar system is a
fixed orbit. Gravitational force does not need to be in contact to exert its downward force.
Electrostatic Force: The electrostatic force is very similar to gravitational force, the difference
here being that gravitational force acts between masses and electrostatic force acts between two
charged bodies.

If you rub a comb on your clothes and then hold it near tiny pieces of paper you will see the bits
of paper standing on their end attracted to the comb. We are made of tiny positive, negative and
neutral particles. The opposite charges attract each other and like charges repel. This is the result
of electrostatic forces.

Magnetic Force: Have you ever used a magnet? Doesnt it feel like magic? If you ever have two
magnets, try joining their ends. In one case, the ends will attract each other vigorously. In
another case, no matter how hard you try, the ends will never make contact.
Even if you push the ends together, the second you leave it, it will bounce off. This is the result
of Magnetic force. Magnetic force is also responsible for the attraction of iron by a magnet. The
magnetic force exerted by a magnet decreases with the increase in the distance from a
magnet. Read what is a Force and other types of forces lik

Non Contact Force Definition

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What is Gravity?
An imaginary force pulling everything towards the earth surface. All the objects are pulled
towards the earth without any physical contact with the objects and bodies. These are non contact
forces in the most basic sense.

Non Contact Force can be defined as:

Forces which come into play when two object do not have any physical contact between
them.
or
When a force is applied on some body by another object without any interaction or contact
is called non contact force.
or
In a Non-contact force the force information is transmitted over distance.

Examples of Non-Contact Forces are :

1. Gravitational force
2. Magnetic force
3. Electrostatics
4. Nuclear force

It differs from the contact force in the sense that physical contact is not involved here.
it is interesting to note that origin of all contact forces can be traced to non-contact forces.

Non Contact Force List

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The list is exhaustive. As compared to contact forces, there are only a few non contact forces.
Some of them are:

1. Gravity
2. Magnetism
3. Electrostatics
 4. Strong nuclear force
5. Weak nuclear force

1. Gravity : Gravitation or Gravity is a process by which bodies with a physical weight,

however, small it is, are attracted towards earth surface. They are attracted by a force
which is proportional to their weight.Gravitation is responsible for keeping all the planets
in their respective orbit around the sun and is the non contact force at its best.

The Universal law of gravitation can be stated as:

"Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the Square of the
distance between them".Mathematically, it can be stated as:
F = Gm1m2r2

Where,
F = force of gravitation in Newton
G = gravitational constant with value 6.673

1. 10-11m3 kg-1s-2
m1 = mass of object 1
m2 = mass of object 2

The direction of force is from the body acted upon towards the body applying it. The
weight of the human body is also a non contact force exerted by earth on human.

FIGURE : OBJECTS ATTRACTED TOWARDS EARTH

2. MAGNETISM : It is a property by virtue of which certain special substances called

'magnets' exert a special force on other magnets or substances made up of iron. This
 force is called magnetic force which is a kind of non contact force as the materials just
need to be in the vicinity of the magnet.
This is non contact because there is no physical contact between the materials. This force
is due to the magnetic field developed around the magnet. These magnets have two poles
called South and North. Like poles repel each other while unlike poles attract each
other.Magnetic fields are non contact forces as they push or pull objects without touching
them. They exhibit these properties just on a few magnetic materials not on all.

Figure : Depicting Magnetism

There are many kinds of magnetism like:

1. Diamagnetism
2. Ferromagnetism
3. Paramagnetism
4. Antiferromagnetism
5. Electromagnetism

3. Electrostatic Force: Electrostatics is all about attraction and repulsion of charges and is
another type of non contact force. Some materials have special properties of developing
charge on their surface once they are rubbed like amber. These materials then attract
opposite charges and hence display the property of electrostatics.
It is fully justified to be called non contact forces as the charges do not need to be in
physical contact in order to repel or attract.
 SHOWING ELECTROSTATICS AS NON CONTACT
FORCES

4. Strong Nuclear Force: The force acting in the nucleus is called nuclear force as the
name suggests. On a larger level it is the force that binds protons and nucleons together,
they form the nucleus. These are the strongest of all the four fundamental forces.
They are also called non contact forces because they act without any physical contact
between particles. This force acts equally between two protons, between two neutrons
and between proton and a neutron. The range of this force is very small although it is the
strongest of all.

5. Weak Nuclear Force: This is an uncommon force and hence appears in very few
processes like beta decay of a nucleus. This is responsible for the process of hydrogen
decay in the stars.

Non Contact Force Examples

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There are various examples from our daily life depicting non contact forces, some of them
are:

1. Apple falling down from the tree is the best and most popular example of non contact
force viz. gravity.
2. Iron pins being attracted when in the vicinity of a magnet without any physical contact.
3. Repulsion force, when two magnets are close to each other is also an example of non
contact force.
4. The charging of the hair and attraction of paper bits towards it.
5. Falling of rain drops on earth is also an example of non contact force .
6. Free fall of feather towards earth is by the virtue of gravity.
7. There are many real life examples from electrostatics showing the attraction of small
materials towards objects.