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What do you call the sum of all forces acting on an object?

User Kevin He
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Final answer:

The sum of all forces acting on an object is called the net force, which is the vector sum of individual forces according to Essential Knowledge 3.B.1.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sum of all forces acting on an object is known as the net force. Forces are vector quantities, which means that they have both magnitude and direction. The net force is the vector sum of all of these individual forces. According to Essential Knowledge 3.B.1, when an object interacts with several other obje`cts, the net force is the vector sum of the forces. It's crucial to remember that while internal forces within a system can act between parts of the object, they cancel each other out due to Newton's third law of motion. Therefore, when considering the sum of forces, only external forces are accounted for in the net force.

In terms of work done on an object, the net work is directly related to the net force. The equation for net work is "Wnet = Fnet × d × cos(θ)", where "Fnet" is the net force on an object, "d" is the displacement of the object, and "θ" is the angle between the force vector and the displacement vector.

User John Mulder
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