Characteristics of Force: Feynman's Physics Explained
What is a force? Saying it equals ma is only a definition; the real content of Newton's laws is that forces have simple, independent properties. The truly fundamental forces — gravity and the electromagnetic force — have beautifully simple laws. Most forces we feel every day, like friction or the pull of a spring, are not fundamental at all. They are the enormously complicated, large-scale result of countless tiny electrical forces between atoms.
The big idea
Everyday forces like friction are really electricity in disguise.
Think about it
Friction feels like its own kind of force. Why is it actually the combined effect of atoms touching?
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