Chapter 9: Force

9.3 Types of forces

Sometimes we will refer to a force being “applied.” We use this somewhat generically, though it often is used to describe the force exerted by a push. We use the symbol F app.

In the case of a push, this is technically a normal force! But it sometimes conceptually useful to just think of it on its own terms, as the force that you yourself are intentionally applying to an object.