Central force

In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force that is directed towards or away from a point called center of force.^[a][1]: 93

where ${\textstyle {\vec {F}}}$ is the force, F is a vector valued force function, F is a scalar valued force function, r is the position vector, ||r|| is its length, and ${\textstyle {\hat {\mathbf {r} }}=\mathbf {r} /\|\mathbf {r} \|}$ is the corresponding unit vector.

Not all central force fields are conservative or spherically symmetric. However, a central force is conservative if and only if it is spherically symmetric or rotationally invariant.^{[1]: 133–38}

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