Newton's three laws of motion make it clear that forces play a central role in determining the motion of an object. In the next four sections some common forces will be discussed: the gravitational force (Section 4.7), the normal force (Section 4.8), frictional forces (Section 4.9), and the tension force (Section 4.10). In later chapters, we will encounter still others, such as electric and magnetic forces. It is important to realize that Newton's second law is always valid, regardless of which of these forces may act on an object. One does not have a different law for every type of common force. Thus, we need only to determine what forces are acting on an object, add them together to form the net force, and then use Newton's second law to determine the object's acceleration.

In nature there are two general types of forces, fundamental and nonfundamental. Fundamental forces are the ones that are truly unique, in the sense that all other forces can be explained in terms of them. Only three fundamental forces have been discovered:

1.   Gravitational force 2.   Strong nuclear force 3.   Electroweak force

The gravitational force is discussed in the next section. The strong nuclear force plays a primary role in the stability of the nucleus of the atom (see Section 31.2). The electroweak force is a single force that manifests itself in two ways (see Section 32.6). One manifestation is the electromagnetic force that electrically charged particles exert on one another (see Sections 18.5, 21.2, and 21.8). The other manifestation is the so-called weak nuclear force that plays a role in the radioactive disintegration of certain nuclei (see Section 31.5).

Except for the gravitational force, all of the forces discussed in this chapter are nonfundamental, because they are related to the electromagnetic force. They arise from the interactions between the electrically charged particles that comprise atoms and molecules. Our understanding of which forces are fundamental, however, is continually evolving. For instance, in the 1860s and 1870s James Clerk Maxwell showed that the electric force and the magnetic force could be explained as manifestations of a single electromagnetic force. Then, in the 1970s, Sheldon Glashow (1932– ), Abdus Salam (1926–1996), and Steven Weinberg (1933– ) presented the theory that explains how the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force are related to the electroweak force. They received a Nobel prize in 1979 for their achievement. Today, efforts continue that have the goal of further reducing the number of fundamental forces.