Diverting an Object's Course with Minimal Force: An Easy Question

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of diverting an object's course with minimal force, specifically in the context of a heavy object moving in a straight line through the air. Participants explore the terminology and physics behind the forces that can cause such a change in trajectory.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant asks for a layman's explanation of the force that can nudge an object off course with minimal effort.
  • Another participant explains that any non-zero force can cause a non-zero acceleration, moving the object off course, and discusses the concept of critical force in relation to overcoming friction.
  • A different participant simplifies the explanation by stating that any force causing a change in speed in a direction is called acceleration, emphasizing the need for the force to exceed resistive forces.
  • One participant argues that various forces, including aerodynamic forces and electromagnetic forces, can deflect a 1-ton object, suggesting that "force" may be the term the original poster is looking for.
  • Another participant adds that if equal and opposite forces act on an object, the total force is zero, which would not result in acceleration.
  • A later reply introduces a disagreement regarding the interpretation of F=ma, suggesting that the terms represent different physical concepts related to the properties of interacting objects and their motion.
  • Another participant humorously shares personal anecdotes about different terms used to describe deflection, including "side swipe" and "deflection."

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the terminology and concepts related to forces and acceleration, with no clear consensus on a single term or explanation. Disagreements arise regarding the interpretation of F=ma and the nature of forces involved.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the importance of overcoming resistive forces and the concept of critical force, but these ideas remain loosely defined and not fully resolved within the discussion.

pedanticPanda
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I'm not a physics person so hopefully this is a an easy question for you.
Could you please explain in layman's terms?

if an object is traveling in a straight line what is the name of the force that would move it of course ?

i.e nudge of course with minimal effort
if a ton object moving through the air in straight line (free fall) what is the technical term or explanation for being able to divert the objects course with MINIMAL force ...
?


Love and hugs
 
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F=ma, so any force, no matter how small, as long as it is greater than zero, can give the object a non-zero acceleration, moving it off course. There is no smallest force, ie. for any non-zero force, you can always find another non-zero force that is smaller. Eg. Let's say the candidate smallest force is 0.001 N. Then we can immediately say that a smaller force is 0.0001N, ad infinitum.

However, there are times when there is a threshold or critical force. For example, an object on a surface with friction. You have to overcome the friction to move the object. The threshold or critical force needed is given by the coefficient of friction between the surface and the object, multiplied by the object's weight. Again, as long as you exceed this threshold by any amount, no matter how small, you will give the object a non-zero acceleration. 'Critical' is the generic term in physics for the value at which the behaviour of a system changes qualitatively. It's not specific to forces, so if no one has named the specific phenomenon yet, you can always say eg. critical angle, critical velocity etc. There are times when 'critical' is used to name a phenomenon, in which case it is no longer a generic term.
 
In super layman's terms any force that causes a change in speed in a direction is called acceleration, the minimal force needs to be greater than all the opposite resistive forces.
 
I'm afraid that any force fits the discription given. A 1-ton object can be deflected by changes ni the air (aerodynamic force), or by collission with another object, or by pieces of itself breaking off, even by having sunlight shining on one side of the object (electromagnetic force). Any force creates a change in course (an acceleration). In fact, that's kind of the definition of what a force is. And, the same amount of force (of any kind) coming from the same direction will produce the same amount of acceleration (deflect the object off its original course).

Maybe "force" is the actual name you're looking for.
 
Well, I was typing while MadMike was posting, but he brings up a good point about opposite forces. If you hit the object with 5 pounds of force from the left and 5 pounds from the right, you'll get no acceleratrion, because you have a positive 5 pounds and a negative 5 pounds, which adds up to a "total force" of zero.

So maybe "total force" is what you want.
 
thanks everyone x
 
madmike159 said:
In super layman's terms any force that causes a change in speed in a direction is called acceleration, the minimal force needs to be greater than all the opposite resistive forces.

I disagree, in F=ma, although force equals acceleration, the two terms represent physically different things. The term on the left represents properties of the interacting objects. The term on the right represents the space-time motion of one of the objects.

Suppose: A blue object 1 placed in contact with object 2 causes object 2 to move only when object 2 is red, but not blue or green. In F=ma, the left hand side will describe the redness of object 2 (as well as the colour of object 1); in contrast, the acceleration a on the right hand side describes the space-time motion of object 2.
 
pedanticPanda said:
I'm not a physics person so hopefully this is a an easy question for you.
Could you please explain in layman's terms?

if an object is traveling in a straight line what is the name of the force that would move it of course ?

i.e nudge of course with minimal effort
if a ton object moving through the air in straight line (free fall) what is the technical term or explanation for being able to divert the objects course with MINIMAL force ...
?


Love and hugs


Well, when this happens to my wife, she calls it a "side swipe".

My brother-in-law, the pool shark calls it a sharp "cut" in the side pocket.

I just call it a "deflecton"
 

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