Talk:Central force

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Help with this template Comments: edit – history – watch – refresh According to Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, page 7, a central force is one where the direction of the force lies along the radius vector. Similarly, page 88 in Theoretical Physics by Georg Joos says that a central force is one whose representative vector always points towards a fixed point O. This does not mean that a central force has a magnitude that depends only on the magnitude of it's position vector r. 80.43.112.158 22:00, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

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a bit confusin indeed, one should distinguish between the force itself and the potential field, furthermore the point, the force is acting to or from, is not in every case the origin, this is just a special case.

According to Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, page 7, a central force is one where the direction of the force lies along the radius vector. Similarly, page 88 in Theoretical Physics by Georg Joos says that a central force is one whose representative vector always points towards a fixed point O. This does not mean that the magnitude of a central force is a function of the magnitude of it's position vector r.

80.43.112.158 22:09, 16 April 2007 (UTC) physics dude

Removed the external link Central Forces & Orbits Oxford University Physics Dept. This requires permission to access the page. Zeyn1 (talk) 14:46, 18 April 2008 (UTC)