13.1: Torque
- Page ID
- 18089
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Newton’s second law \(\vec{F}=m\vec{a}\) has a rotational analogue. When a force \(\vec{F}\) is exerted at a location \(\vec{r}\) measured from some axis of rotation (e.g., the bolt in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)), then the cross product \(\vec{r}\times\vec{F}\) is called the torque, \(\vec{T}\). The cross product is defined in Equation 2.1.1, and is derived in detail in section D.3.1. For now, it is a vector perpendicular to both \(\vec{F}\) and \(\vec{r}\), with direction given by the right-hand rule. The magnitude is
\[|\vec{r}\times\vec{F}|=|\vec{r}||\vec{F}||\sin\phi| \nonumber \]
where \(\phi\) is the angle between \(\vec{r}\) and \(\vec{F}\).
