Types of force.

There are two main types of forces, viz. contact force and non-contact force.

• Contact Force: Contact force is a force which can produce its effect only by making a contact with object. Following are the contact forces:

  Muscular Force: It is the force applied by muscles of humans or animals. A bullock is able to pull a cart because of muscular force. The bullock needs to be harnessed to the cart for applying the force.

  • Friction: When one surface is moving over another surface, a force comes into play and opposes their relative motion. This force is called friction or force of friction. Friction always opposes motion because it acts in opposite direction to motion. Force of friction arises due to contact between two surfaces. If there is no contact between two surfaces there would be no friction.
• Non-contact Force: The non-contact force is a force which can produce its effect without making a contact with object. Following are the non-contact forces:
  • Magnetic Force: The force applied by a magnet is called magnetic force. A magnet can exert its force on an object even from a distance and does not need to touch that object.
  • Electrostatic Force: It is the force applied by a charged body on another charged or non-charged body. When you brush a comb in your hairs and then bring the comb near small bits of paper, the comb attracts the bits of paper. This happens because of electrostatic force.
  • Gravitational Force: Every object in the universe exerts a force on another object. This force is called gravitational force. It is the gravitational force of various celestial bodies which keeps them in their position in the space.