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Tension is the pulling or stretching force transmitted axially along an object such as a string, rope, chain, rod, truss member, or other object, so as to stretch or pull apart the object. In terms of force, it is the opposite of compression .
Tension, however, accounts for most of the "opposite directions" pull on the plates. As the separating oceanic crust cools over time, it becomes more dense and sinks farther and farther away from the ridge axis. The cooling and sinking ocean crust causes a tensile stress that also helps drive the pulling apart of the plates at the ridge axis.
It is the straight line through the point at which the force is applied, and is in the same direction as the vector F →. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The concept is essential, for instance, for understanding the net effect of multiple forces applied to a body .
Moreover, the direction and magnitude generally depend on the orientation of S. Thus the stress state of the material must be described by a tensor , called the (Cauchy) stress tensor ; which is a linear function that relates the normal vector n of a surface S to the traction vector T across S .
Surface tension is an important factor in the phenomenon of capillarity. Surface tension has the dimension of force per unit length, or of energy per unit area. [4] The two are equivalent, but when referring to energy per unit of area, it is common to use the term surface energy, which is a more general term in the sense that it applies also to ...
A centripetal force (from Latin centrum, "center" and petere, "to seek" [1]) is a force that makes a body follow a curved path.The direction of the centripetal force is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous center of curvature of the path.
The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current. [1] The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean simply alternating and direct, as when they modify current or voltage. [2] [3]
An interpretation that avoids this conflict is to say that the rotating spheres experiment does not really define rotation relative to anything in particular (for example, absolute space or fixed stars); rather the experiment is an operational definition of what is meant by the motion called absolute rotation.