What is "composition of forces"

Force \Force\, n. [F. force, LL. forcia, fortia, fr. L. fortis strong. See Fort, n.]

1. Capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect; strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigor; might; often, an unusual degree of strength or energy; especially, power to persuade, or convince, or impose obligation; pertinency; validity; special signification; as, the force of an appeal, an argument, a contract, or a term.

   He was, in the full force of the words, a good man.
   --Macaulay.

2. Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion; as, by force of arms; to take by force.

   Which now they hold by force, and not by right.
   --Shak.

3. Strength or power for war; hence, a body of land or naval combatants, with their appurtenances, ready for action; -- an armament; troops; warlike array; -- often in the plural; hence, a body of men prepared for action in other ways; as, the laboring force of a plantation; the armed forces.

   Is Lucius general of the forces?
   --Shak.

4. (Law)

   1. Strength or power exercised without law, or contrary to law, upon persons or things; violence.

   2. Validity; efficacy.
      --Burrill.

5. (Physics) Any action between two bodies which changes, or tends to change, their relative condition as to rest or motion; or, more generally, which changes, or tends to change, any physical relation between them, whether mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, magnetic, or of any other kind; as, the force of gravity; cohesive force; centrifugal force.

   Animal force (Physiol.), muscular force or energy.

   Catabiotic force [Gr. ? down (intens.) + ? life.] (Biol.), the influence exerted by living structures on adjoining cells, by which the latter are developed in harmony with the primary structures.

   Centrifugal force, Centripetal force, Coercive force, etc. See under Centrifugal, Centripetal, etc.

   Composition of forces, Correlation of forces, etc. See under Composition, Correlation, etc.

   Force and arms [trans. of L. vi et armis] (Law), an expression in old indictments, signifying violence.

   In force, or Of force, of unimpaired efficacy; valid; of full virtue; not suspended or reversed. ``A testament is of force after men are dead.''
   --Heb. ix. 17.

   Metabolic force (Physiol.), the influence which causes and controls the metabolism of the body.

   No force, no matter of urgency or consequence; no account; hence, to do no force, to make no account of; not to heed. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   Of force, of necessity; unavoidably; imperatively. ``Good reasons must, of force, give place to better.''
   --Shak.

   Plastic force (Physiol.), the force which presumably acts in the growth and repair of the tissues.

   Vital force (Physiol.), that force or power which is inherent in organization; that form of energy which is the cause of the vital phenomena of the body, as distinguished from the physical forces generally known.

   Syn: Strength; vigor; might; energy; stress; vehemence; violence; compulsion; coaction; constraint; coercion.

   Usage: Force, Strength. Strength looks rather to power as an inward capability or energy. Thus we speak of the strength of timber, bodily strength, mental strength, strength of emotion, etc. Force, on the other hand, looks more to the outward; as, the force of gravitation, force of circumstances, force of habit, etc. We do, indeed, speak of strength of will and force of will; but even here the former may lean toward the internal tenacity of purpose, and the latter toward the outward expression of it in action. But, though the two words do in a few cases touch thus closely on each other, there is, on the whole, a marked distinction in our use of force and strength. ``Force is the name given, in mechanical science, to whatever produces, or can produce, motion.''
   --Nichol.

   Thy tears are of no force to mollify This flinty man.
   --Heywood.

   More huge in strength than wise in works he was.
   --Spenser.

   Adam and first matron Eve Had ended now their orisons, and found Strength added from above, new hope to spring Out of despair.
   --Milton.

Composition \Com`po*si"tion\, n. [F. composition, fr. L. compositio. See Composite.]

1. The act or art of composing, or forming a whole or integral, by placing together and uniting different things, parts, or ingredients. In specific uses:

   1. The invention or combination of the parts of any literary work or discourse, or of a work of art; as, the composition of a poem or a piece of music. ``The constant habit of elaborate composition.''
      --Macaulay.

   2. (Fine Arts) The art or practice of so combining the different parts of a work of art as to produce a harmonious whole; also, a work of art considered as such. See 4, below.

   3. The act of writing for practice in a language, as English, Latin, German, etc.

   4. (Print.) The setting up of type and arranging it for printing.

2. The state of being put together or composed; conjunction; combination; adjustment.

   View them in composition with other things.
   --I. Watts.

   The elementary composition of bodies.
   --Whewell.

3. A mass or body formed by combining two or more substances; as, a chemical composition.

   A composition that looks . . . like marble.
   --Addison.

4. A literary, musical, or artistic production, especially one showing study and care in arrangement; -- often used of an elementary essay or translation done as an educational exercise.

5. Consistency; accord; congruity. [Obs.]

   There is no composition in these news That gives them credit.
   --Shak.

6. Mutual agreement to terms or conditions for the settlement of a difference or controversy; also, the terms or conditions of settlement; agreement.

   Thus we are agreed: I crave our composition may be written.
   --Shak.

7. (Law) The adjustment of a debt, or avoidance of an obligation, by some form of compensation agreed on between the parties; also, the sum or amount of compensation agreed upon in the adjustment.

   Compositions for not taking the order of knighthood.
   --Hallam.

   Cleared by composition with their creditors.
   --Blackstone.

8. Synthesis as opposed to analysis.

   The investigation of difficult things by the method of analysis ought ever to precede the method of composition.
   --Sir I. Newton.

   Composition cloth, a kind of cloth covered with a preparation making it waterproof.

   Composition deed, an agreement for composition between a debtor and several creditors.

   Composition plane (Crystallog.), the plane by which the two individuals of a twin crystal are united in their reserved positions.

   Composition of forces (Mech.), the finding of a single force (called the resultant) which shall be equal in effect to two or more given forces (called the components) when acting in given directions.
   --Herbert.

   Composition metal, an alloy resembling brass, which is sometimes used instead of copper for sheathing vessels; -- also called Muntz metal and yellow metal.

   Composition of proportion (Math.), an arrangement of four proportionals so that the sum of the first and second is to the second as the sum of the third and fourth to the fourth.