Torque | Equation, Definition, & Units | Britannica

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External Websites

• Kahn Academy - Introduction to torque
• Physics LibreTexts - Torque
• Haverford Libraries - Haverford Scholarship - The Physical Origin of Torque and of the Rotational Second Law
• University of Toronto - Department of Physics - Torque
• Pressbooks at the Robertson Library - Engineering Mechanics: Statics - Torque/Moment
• NASA - Glenn Research Center - Torque (Moment)
• OpenStax - University Physics Volume 1 - Torque
• Yale University - Open Yale Courses - Torque
• Campus Manitoba PressbooksEDU Network - Intorduction to Biomechanics - Torque

Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: moment of a force Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot

torque, in physics, the tendency of a force to rotate the body to which it is applied. The torque, specified with regard to the axis of rotation, is equal to the magnitude of the component of the force vector lying in the plane perpendicular to the axis, multiplied by the shortest distance between the axis and the direction of the force component. Regardless of its orientation in space, the force vector can always be located in a plane parallel to the axis. In the figure, the force vector F lies in the plane parallel to the line OL; the component FL, being parallel to OL, has no moment about OL, while the component FP, lying in the plane perpendicular to OL, has a moment, or torque, about OL equal to FP × d, in which d, the shortest distance between FP and OL, is the moment arm or lever arm. Torque is measured in newton metres in SI units.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.