Editing Torque (section)

{{Short description|Turning force around an axis}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Merge from|Line of action|discuss=Talk:Torque#Proposed merge of Line of action into Torque|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox physical quantity
| name = Torque
| width =
| background =
| image = Torque animation.gif
| caption = Relationship between [[force]] '''F''', torque '''τ''', [[linear momentum]] '''p''', and [[angular momentum]] '''L''' in a system which has rotation constrained to only one plane  (forces and moments due to [[gravity]] and [[friction]] not considered).
| unit = [[Newton metre|N⋅m]]
| otherunits = [[Pound-foot (torque)|pound-force-feet]], [[Pound (force)|lbf]]⋅inch, ozf⋅in
| symbols = <math>\tau</math>, ''M''
| baseunits = kg⋅m<sup>2</sup>⋅s<sup>−2</sup>
| dimension = wikidata
}}
{{Classical mechanics|cTopic=Fundamental concepts}}
In [[physics]] and [[mechanics]], '''torque''' is the [[rotational]] analogue of linear [[force]].<ref>Serway, R. A. and Jewett, J. W. Jr. (2003). ''Physics for Scientists and Engineers''. 6th ed. Brooks Cole. {{ISBN|0-534-40842-7}}.</ref> It is also referred to as the '''moment of force''' (also abbreviated to '''moment'''). The symbol for torque is typically <math>\boldsymbol\tau</math>, the lowercase [[Greek alphabet|Greek letter]] ''[[tau]]''. When being referred to as [[moment (physics)|moment]] of force, it is commonly denoted by {{mvar|M}}. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull applied to a body, a torque can be thought of as a twist applied to an object with respect to a chosen point; for example, driving a [[screw]] uses torque to force it into an object, which is applied by the [[screwdriver]] rotating around its [[Axis of rotation|axis]] to the [[List of screw drives|drives]] on the head.