Tangential Force -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics

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Tangential Force

This entry contributed by Dana Romero

The force on an object in contact with a surface can be resolved into a component perpendicular to the surface at a given point (the normal force), and a component parallel to the surface (the tangential force). In particular, a mass of weight w = mg on an inclined plane at an angle to the horizontal will have normal and tangential forces of

respectively, where g is the gravitational acceleration, which essentially points to the center of the Earth.

Force, Normal Force