Central Forces

Abstract

A force field with the property that the force at every point acts along the position vector of that point relative to an origin O is called a central force field. The motion of a particle subject to a central force is of particular interest because of its wide application to problems as diverse as the motion of the planets and the motion of electrons. The central force most commonly found in nature is one which varies inversely as the square of the distance from the centre of force O. We shall begin, however, by stating the equations for an arbitrary central force.