A body force is a force that acts throughout the volume of a body, in contrast to contact forces. Gravity and electromagnetic forces are examples of body forces. Centrifugal force and Coriolis force can also be viewed as body forces.
This can be put into contrast to the classical definition of surface forces which are supposed to be exerted to the surface of an object. Shear forces and normal forces occurring in physical and engineering circumstances are supposed to be surface forces and exerted to the surface of an object. All cohesive surface attraction and contact forces between objects are also considered as surface forces.
Read more about Body Force: Acceleration
Famous quotes containing the words body and/or force:
“There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The force of a death should be enormous but how can you know what kind of man you’ve killed or who was the braver and stronger if you have to peer through layers of glass that deliver the image but obscure the meaning of the act? War has a conscience or it’s ordinary murder.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)