Statics is the action of one body on another. A force is either a push or a pull. A force tends to move a body in the direction of its action. The action of a force is characterized by its magnitude, by the direction of its action, and by its point of application. Thus, force is a vector quantity, because its effect depends on the direction as well as on the magnitude of the action. Forces are classified as either contact or body forces. A contact force is produced by direct physical contact; an example is the force exerted on a
Scalar (physics) Scalar (physics) A scalar or scalar quantity in physics is a physical quantity that can be described by a single element of a number field such as a real number, often accompanied by units of measurement. A scalar is usually said to be a physical quantity that only has magnitude and no other characteristics. This is in contrast to vectors, tensors, etc. which are described by several numbers that characterize their magnitude, direction, and so on. The concept of a scalar in physics is essentially the same as in mathematics. Formally, a scalar is unchanged by coordinate system transformations. In