What is Contact Force?

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A Contact force as the name suggests acts on a point of an object by direct contact. It acts
between the objects are in contact with each other are called Contact Forces.The Contact may be
Continuous or sometimes momentary. The former case is known as Continuous force and the
latter case is known as impulse force.

Examples
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1) Pushing an object along the floor :

This is an example of a continuous force. Here, continuously, the direct force is put on the object
to move it along the floor.

2) Kicking a Soccer ball :

This is the example of a impulse force. Here force is applied to the ball with a given mass for a
given time and we can see the ball is moving away with some velocity in a particular direction

3) When a marble on a glass surface is subjected to an applied force, the marble moves a considerable
distance.

4) A book on a table is subjected to an applied force, the book moves only for some distance till the
force is being applied.

5)The weight of an object is a contact force called force of gravit

Contact Force Equation

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The Contact force equation in any of the above forms obeys the fundamental force equation that is
defined by Newton’s second law of motion. That is,

F = ma where,
m is the mass of the object and
a is the acceleration that is caused due to the cause of applied force F

In case of impulsive force, a modified equation is more appropriate which is derived as follows,
F = m a multiplying by the time ‘t’ for which the force is applied,
F× ×t=m× ×a× ×t
= mvThe product mv is called as the momentum acquired by the object. The momentum is a
conservable quantity and helps a lot in study of Collision of objects.

Contact Force and Non Contact Force

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Contact Forces are the forces which result when two interacting objects are physically in contact with
each other.
The Various types of Contact Forces are :

1. Applied force
2. Frictional force
3. Air resistance force
4. Spring force
5. Tension force
6. Normal force

1. Applied force : Force which is applied to an object by another object. It is a Muscular Force,
happens by Pushing or Pulling an Object. A person pushing his car is an example of applied
force. When the person pushes the car then there is an applied force acting upon the car. The
applied force is the force exerted on the car by the person.

2. Frictional force : Friction force is the result of two surfaces being pressed together closely. This
causes intermolecular attractive forces between molecules of different surfaces resulting in
friction. The frictional forces depend upon the nature of the surfaces. The more rough the
surface the more the frictional force.

3. Air Resistance Force : The Air resistance force acts upon objects as they travel through the air.
This force opposes the motion of the object in the air.
Example : A skydiver diving in the sky.

4. Spring force : The Spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon
any object which is attached to it. Here the magnitude of the spring force is directly proportional
to the amount of stretch or compression of the spring.
 5. Tension Force : The tension force is transmitted through a string, rope or cable. The tension
force is directed along the length of the wire. This force pulls the objects equally on the opposite
ends of the wire.

6. Normal force : This is also called the support force. If an object is resting upon a table then the
table is exerting an upward force upon the object in order to support the weight of the object. If
a person leans against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the person.

On the contrary, a Non contact force is a force which acts on body remotely without any contact with
the object.
Types of Non Contact Force:

1. Gravitational force : The Force due to Earth’s attraction. We said when an object is resting on a
surface then the surface exerts a force downwards equal to its weight and it is known as force of
gravity. Now consider an object held in air and suddenly released. The object, at the point of
release, is not in contact with any surface or with earth. But still the object starts falling towards
earth. How and why this happens?
It is due to the inherent gravitational property of earth and the gravitational force exerted on
the object remotely, i.e., without a contact.

2. Magnetic Force : The Force between two Magnetic Poles placed at a suitable distance is called
the magnetic force,in which like poles repel while the unlike poles attract each other. Similarly,
if you keep a small piece of iron a little away from a strong magnet, the iron piece starts moving
towards the magnet even though there is no contact. Here Magnetic force is a non-contact
force.

3. Electrostatic force : The Force exerted by a charged body on another charged or Uncharged
body is called Electrostatic Forces.The electrostatic force is either attractive or repulsive in
nature. Suppose a thin electrode is charged either positive or negative and another thin
electrode is placed nearby without contact with the first electrode. The second electrode gets
charged with the opposite polarity and tends to move near the first electrode. If the charge is of
very high potential then there is a possibility of a flash, which is nothing but a electrostatic
movement of the charged ions in the air. In fact, this is the principle of a lightning arrestor. This
phenomenon is due to a non contact force called as electrostatic force.

4. Electrochemical force : It is another example of non contact force. The process of electrolysis is
based on the concept of electrochemical force.