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h1. Contact Force
{excerpt}A [force] that arises when one macroscopic body presses against another. When one of the bodies is a flat surface
like a floor, wall or ramp the contact force is usually split into components called the [friction] force and
the [normal force].{excerpt}
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h2h3. Motivation for Concept
When one macroscopic body encounters another, the bodies cannot simply pass through each other. Instead, their contact results in a change in the motion of each body.
h2h3. Special Cases
h4. Applied Force
When a person purposefully presses against another object, the resulting contact force is often called an applied force.
h4. Normal Force
An object in contact with a surface will always be subject to a contact force that has a component perpendicular to the surface. That perpendicular component guarantees that the object will not pass through the surface. It receives the special name of [normal force], derived from the mathematical meaning of normal (perpendicular).
h4. Friction
An object in contact with a surface will sometimes experience a contact force that has a component parallel to the surface. Since the _perpendicular_ component receives a special label as the normal force, the parallel component is also generally given a name: the force of [friction]. This division of the contact force is useful, since in many cases the [friction] component of the contact force can be related to the [normal|normal force] component.
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