tangential force

1 definition found

tangential force - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Tangential \Tan*gen"tial\, a. (Geom.)
     Of or pertaining to a tangent; in the direction of a tangent.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Tangential force (Mech.), a force which acts on a moving
        body in the direction of a tangent to the path of the
        body, its effect being to increase or diminish the
        velocity; -- distinguished from a normal force, which acts
        at right angles to the tangent and changes the direction
        of the motion without changing the velocity.
  
     Tangential stress. (Engin.) See Shear, n., 3.
        [1913 Webster]