Central Force

In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force whose magnitude only depends on the distance r of the object from the origin and is directed along the line joining them:

where is the force, F is a vector valued force function, F is a scalar valued force function, r is the position vector, ||r|| is its length, and = r/||r|| is the corresponding unit vector.

Equivalently, a force field is central if and only if it is spherically symmetric.

Read more about Central Force:  Properties, Examples

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