torque
Sign in to saveIn physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational correspondent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force, or simply the moment. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull applied to a body, a torque can be thought of as a twist applied to an object with respect to a chosen axis. For example, driving a screw uses torque to force it into an object. The torque is applied by the screwdriver, rotating around its axis, to the drive on the head of the screw.
AI overview
Torque is a twisting force that causes objects to rotate around an axis, similar to how a regular push or pull force causes objects to move in a straight line. It matters because many everyday tasks—like driving a screw with a screwdriver—depend on torque to work.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Physical quantity.name
- Torque
- Physical quantity.image
- Torque animation.gif
- Physical quantity.caption
- Relationship between force F, torque τ, linear momentum p, and angular momentum L in a system which has rotation constrained to only one plane (forces and moments due to gravity and friction not considered)
- Physical quantity.unit
- N⋅m
- Physical quantity.otherunits
- pound-force-feet, lbf⋅inch, ozf⋅in
- Physical quantity.symbols
- \tau, M
- Physical quantity.baseunits
- kg⋅m2⋅s−2
- Physical quantity.dimension
- wikidata
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Historical terminology
- Definition and relation to other physical quantities
- Torque as a cross product between linear force and the radius about the rotational axis
- Relationship with the angular momentum
- Proof of the equivalence of definitions
- Derivatives of torque
- Relationship with power and energy
- Proof
- Principle of moments
- Units
- Conversion to other units
- Derivation
- Special cases and other facts
- Moment arm formula
- Static equilibrium
- Net force versus torque
- Machine torque
- Torque multiplier
- See also
- References
- External links
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational correspondent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force, or simply the moment. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull applied to a body, a torque can be thought of as a twist applied to an object with respect to a chosen axis. For example, driving a screw uses torque to force it into an object. The torque is applied by the screwdriver, rotating around its axis, to the drive on the head of the screw.
Torque is generally referred to using different vocabulary depending on geographical location and field of study, with torque generally being associated with physics and moment being associated with engineering. This article follows the definition used in US physics in its usage of the word torque.