Force vs. Thrust — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 14, 2024
Force is a general term for any push or pull, while thrust is a specific force in propulsion systems.
Difference Between Force and Thrust
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Force is a fundamental concept in physics, representing any interaction that changes the motion of an object, including its direction and velocity. It can manifest in various forms such as gravitational, electromagnetic, and mechanical forces. Thrust, on the other hand, is a specific type of force directed backwards, resulting in forward motion, primarily used in the context of propulsion systems like rockets, jets, and propellers.
The measurement of force is done in Newtons (N) in the International System of Units (SI), indicating the amount of influence that can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Thrust is also measured in Newtons, but it specifically quantifies the force exerted by a propulsion system to overcome the drag and move the object forward.
Force is governed by Newton's three laws of motion, providing the basis for understanding how forces interact and affect objects. Thrust is a practical application of these laws, particularly Newton's third law, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; in propulsion, the backward expulsion of mass generates forward thrust.
The direction of force can vary depending on the interaction, such as the pull of gravity downwards or the push of a hand against an object. Thrust, however, is specifically directed in the opposite direction to the movement of mass in the propulsion system, ensuring forward movement of vehicles like airplanes and rockets.
While force can be static, causing no movement but potentially deforming an object, thrust is dynamic and always associated with movement, specifically designed to propel an object from one point to another.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Interaction changing an object's motion
Specific force for forward propulsion
Measurement
Newtons (N)
Newtons (N), specifically in propulsion
Governing Laws
Newton's laws of motion
Newton's third law of motion
Direction
Can vary (e.g., up, down, sideways)
Always opposite to mass expulsion
Application
Broad, in various physics contexts
Specific to propulsion systems
Compare with Definitions
Force
A push or pull interaction.
The force of gravity pulls everything towards the Earth's center.
Thrust
Force used in propulsion.
The rocket's engines generated thrust for liftoff.
Force
Measured in Newtons (N).
The force applied to the door was 10 N.
Thrust
Also measured in Newtons.
The jet engine produced a thrust of 50,000 N.
Force
Governed by Newton's laws.
The ball accelerated due to the force applied in line with Newton's second law.
Thrust
Inherently associated with movement.
The airplane gained speed as the thrust from its engines increased.
Force
Direction depends on interaction.
The force of the wind pushed the tree sideways.
Thrust
Relies on Newton's third law.
The backward expulsion of gases generated forward thrust.
Force
Can be static or dynamic.
The static force of the book on the table does not cause movement.
Thrust
Always directed backward.
The propeller's thrust pushed the boat forward through the water.
Force
In physics, a force is any influence that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate.
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that system.
Force
Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement
He was thrown backwards by the force of the explosion
Thrust
To push or drive quickly and forcefully
Thrust a pole into the ground.
Force
Coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence
They ruled by law and not by force
Thrust
To cause to project or extend
Poplars thrusting their branches upward.
Thrust out his finger.
Force
Mental or moral strength or power
The force of popular opinion
Thrust
To force into a specified condition or situation
He was thrust into a position of awesome responsibility.
Force
An organized body of military personnel or police
A British peacekeeping force
Thrust
To force or impose on an unwilling or improper recipient
"Some have greatness thrust upon them" (Shakespeare).
Force
A waterfall.
Thrust
(Archaic) To stab; pierce.
Force
Make a way through or into by physical strength; break open by force
The back door of the bank was forced
Thrust
To shove something into or at something else
Thrust at his opponent's chest with a foil.
Force
Make (someone) do something against their will
The universities were forced to cut staff
She was forced into early retirement
Thrust
To grow or extend upwards
"The cathedral ... thrust up suddenly, much taller than the surrounding houses" (Leonard Michaels).
Force
The capacity to do work or cause physical change; energy, strength, or active power
The force of an explosion.
Thrust
To force one's way; press forward
"I watched a young hare thrust through periwinkle under the window" (Sam Pickering).
Force
Power made operative against resistance; exertion
Use force in driving a nail.
Thrust
A forceful shove or push
Inserted the key with a thrust.
Force
The use of physical power or violence to compel or restrain
A confession obtained by force.
Thrust
A lunge or stab.
Force
Intellectual power or vigor, especially as conveyed in writing or speech.
Thrust
A driving force or pressure.
Force
Moral strength.
Thrust
The forward-directed force developed in a jet or rocket engine as a reaction to the high-velocity rearward ejection of exhaust gases.
Force
A capacity for affecting the mind or behavior; efficacy
The force of logical argumentation.
Thrust
Outward or lateral stress in a structure, as that exerted by an arch or vault.
Force
One that possesses such capacity
The forces of evil.
Thrust
The essential meaning; the point
The general thrust of his remarks.
Force
A body of persons or other resources organized or available for a certain purpose
A large labor force.
Thrust
The central purpose or objective
The whole thrust of the project was to make money.
Force
A person or group capable of influential action
A retired senator who is still a force in national politics.
Thrust
A forceful movement, especially an advance or attack by an armed force.
Force
Military strength.
Thrust
(fencing) An attack made by moving the sword parallel to its length and landing with the point.
Pierre was a master swordsman, and could parry the thrusts of lesser men with barely a thought.
Force
A unit of a nation's military personnel, especially one deployed into combat
Our armed forces have at last engaged the enemy.
Thrust
A push, stab, or lunge forward (the act thereof.)
The cutpurse tried to knock her satchel from her hands, but she avoided his thrust and yelled, "Thief!"
Force
A vector quantity indicating the strength and direction of the capacity to accelerate a body. Newton's second law of motion states that a free body accelerates in the direction of the net force and that its acceleration is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to its mass.
Thrust
The force generated by propulsion, as in a jet engine.
Tractive effort
Spacecraft are engineering marvels, designed to resist the thrust of liftoff, as well as the reverse pressure of the void.
Force
See fundamental force.
Thrust
(intransitive) To make advance with force.
We thrust at the enemy with our forces.
Force
(Baseball) A force play.
Thrust
(transitive) To force something upon someone.
I asked her not to thrust the responsibility on me.
Force
To compel through pressure or necessity
I forced myself to practice daily. He was forced to take a second job.
Thrust
(transitive) To push out or extend rapidly or powerfully.
He thrust his arm into the icy stream and grabbed a wriggling fish, astounding the observers.
Towers thrusting skyward.
Force
To gain by the use of force or coercion
Force a confession.
Thrust
(transitive) To push or drive with force; to shove.
To thrust anything with the hand or foot, or with an instrument
Force
To move or effect against resistance or inertia
Forced my foot into the shoe.
Thrust
(intransitive) To enter by pushing; to squeeze in.
Force
To inflict or impose relentlessly
He forced his ideas upon the group.
Thrust
To stab; to pierce; usually with through.
Force
To put undue strain on
She forced her voice despite being hoarse.
Thrust
Thrist.
Force
To increase or accelerate (a pace, for example) to the maximum.
Thrust
A violent push or driving, as with a pointed weapon moved in the direction of its length, or with the hand or foot, or with any instrument; a stab; - a word much used as a term of fencing.
[Polites] Pyrrhus with his lance pursues,And often reaches, and his thrusts renews.
Force
To produce with effort and against one's will
Force a laugh in spite of pain.
Thrust
An attack; an assault.
One thrust at your pure, pretended mechanism.
Force
To use (language) with obvious lack of ease and naturalness.
Thrust
The force or pressure of one part of a construction against other parts; especially (Arch.), a horizontal or diagonal outward pressure, as of an arch against its abutments, or of rafters against the wall which support them.
Force
To move, open, or clear by force
Forced our way through the crowd.
Thrust
The breaking down of the roof of a gallery under its superincumbent weight.
Force
To break down or open by force
Force a lock.
Thrust
To push or drive with force; to drive, force, or impel; to shove; as, to thrust anything with the hand or foot, or with an instrument.
Into a dungeon thrust, to work with slaves.
Force
To rape.
Thrust
To stab; to pierce; - usually with through.
Force
To induce change in (a complex system) by changing one of its parameters
Greenhouse gases that force the earth's climate.
Thrust
To make a push; to attack with a pointed weapon; as, a fencer thrusts at his antagonist.
Force
(Botany) To cause to grow or mature by artificially accelerating normal processes.
Thrust
To enter by pushing; to squeeze in.
And thrust between my father and the god.
Force
To put (a runner) out on a force play.
Thrust
To push forward; to come with force; to press on; to intrude.
As doth an eager houndThrust to an hind within some covert glade.
Force
To allow (a run) to be scored by walking a batter when the bases are loaded.
Thrust
The force used in pushing;
The push of the water on the walls of the tank
The thrust of the jet engines
Force
(Games) To cause an opponent to play (a particular card).
Thrust
The act of applying force to propel something;
After reaching the desired velocity the drive is cut off
Force
Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigour; might; capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect.
The force of an appeal, an argument, or a contract
Thrust
Verbal criticism;
He enlivened his editorials with barbed thrusts at politicians
Force
Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion.
Thrust
A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow);
He warned me with a jab with his finger
He made a thrusting motion with his fist
Force
(countable) Anything that is able to make a substantial change in a person or thing.
Thrust
Push forcefully;
He thrust his chin forward
Force
A physical quantity that denotes ability to push, pull, twist or accelerate a body and which has a direction and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance/time² (ML/T²): SI: newton (N); CGS: dyne (dyn)
Thrust
Press or force;
Stuff money into an envelope
She thrust the letter into his hand
Force
Something or anything that has the power to produce a physical effect upon something else, such as causing it to move or change shape.
Thrust
Make a thrusting forward movement
Force
(countable) A group that aims to attack, control, or constrain.
Reinforcemented increased the American force in the area to 9,000
Police force
Thrust
Impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably;
She forced her diet fads on him
Force
(uncountable) The ability to attack, control, or constrain.
Show of force
Thrust
Penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument
Force
(countable) A magic trick in which the outcome is known to the magician beforehand, especially one involving the apparent free choice of a card by another person.
Thrust
Geology: thrust (molten rock) into pre-existing rock
Force
(legal) Legal validity.
The law will come into force in January.
Thrust
Push upward;
The front of the trains that had collided head-on thrust up into the air
Force
(legal) Either unlawful violence, as in a "forced entry", or lawful compulsion.
Thrust
Place or put with great energy;
She threw the blanket around the child
Thrust the money in the hands of the beggar
Force
Ability of an utterance or its element (word, form, prosody, ...) to effect a given meaning.
Force
|often|capitalized}}Star Wars A metaphysical and ubiquitous power from the fictional Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. See usage note.
Force
Synonym of police force
Force
A waterfall or cascade.
Force
(transitive) To violate (a woman); to rape.
Force
To exert oneself, to do one's utmost.
Force
(transitive) To compel (someone or something) to do something.
Force
(transitive) To constrain by force; to overcome the limitations or resistance of.
Force
(transitive) To drive (something) by force, to propel (generally + prepositional phrase or adverb).
Force
(transitive) To cause to occur (despite inertia, resistance etc.); to produce through force.
The comedian's jokes weren't funny, but I forced a laugh now and then.
Force
(transitive) To forcibly open (a door, lock etc.).
To force a lock.
Force
To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress.
Force
To create an out by touching a base in advance of a runner who has no base to return to while in possession of a ball which has already touched the ground.
Jones forced the runner at second by stepping on the bag.
Force
(whist) To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit that he/she does not hold.
Force
(archaic) To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
Force
(archaic) To provide with forces; to reinforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
Force
(obsolete) To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
Force
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
Force
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
Wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit.
Force
To constrain to do or to forbear, by the exertion of a power not resistible; to compel by physical, moral, or intellectual means; to coerce; as, masters force slaves to labor.
Force
To compel, as by strength of evidence; as, to force conviction on the mind.
Force
To do violence to; to overpower, or to compel by violence to one's will; especially, to ravish; to violate; to commit rape upon.
To force their monarch and insult the court.
I should have forced thee soon wish other arms.
To force a spotless virgin's chastity.
Force
To obtain, overcome, or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress; as, to force the castle; to force a lock.
Force
To impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main strength or violence; - with a following adverb, as along, away, from, into, through, out, etc.
It stuck so fast, so deeply buried layThat scarce the victor forced the steel away.
To force the tyrant from his seat by war.
Ethelbert ordered that none should be forced into religion.
Force
To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
What can the church force more?
Force
To exert to the utmost; to urge; hence, to strain; to urge to excessive, unnatural, or untimely action; to produce by unnatural effort; as, to force a conceit or metaphor; to force a laugh; to force fruits.
High on a mounting wave my head I bore,Forcing my strength, and gathering to the shore.
Force
To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit of which he has none.
Force
To provide with forces; to reënforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
Force
To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
For me, I force not argument a straw.
Force
To use violence; to make violent effort; to strive; to endeavor.
Forcing with gifts to win his wanton heart.
Force
To make a difficult matter of anything; to labor; to hesitate; hence, to force of, to make much account of; to regard.
Your oath once broke, you force not to forswear.
I force not of such fooleries.
Force
To be of force, importance, or weight; to matter.
It is not sufficient to have attained the name and dignity of a shepherd, not forcing how.
Force
A waterfall; a cascade.
To see the falls for force of the river Kent.
Force
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.
Force
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.
Force
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?
Force
Strength or power exercised without law, or contrary to law, upon persons or things; violence.
Force
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.
Thy tears are of no force to mollifyThis flinty man.
More huge in strength than wise in works he was.
Adam and first matron EveHad ended now their orisons, and foundStrength added from above, new hope to springOut of despair.
Force
A unit that is part of some military service;
He sent Caesar a force of six thousand men
Force
One possessing or exercising power or influence or authority;
The mysterious presence of an evil power
May the force be with you
The forces of evil
Force
(physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity;
Force equals mass times acceleration
Force
Group of people willing to obey orders;
A public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens
Force
A powerful effect or influence;
The force of his eloquence easily persuaded them
Force
An act of aggression (as one against a person who resists);
He may accomplish by craft in the long run what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one
Force
Physical energy or intensity;
He hit with all the force he could muster
It was destroyed by the strength of the gale
A government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man
Force
A group of people having the power of effective action;
He joined forces with a band of adventurers
Force
(of a law) having legal validity;
The law is still in effect
Force
To cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :
She forced him to take a job in the city
He squeezed her for information
Force
Urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
Force
Move with force,
He pushed the table into a corner
Force
Impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably;
She forced her diet fads on him
Force
Squeeze like a wedge into a tight space;
I squeezed myself into the corner
Force
Force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically;
She rammed her mind into focus
He drives me mad
Force
Do forcibly; exert force;
Don't force it!
Force
Cause to move along the ground by pulling;
Draw a wagon
Pull a sled
Force
Take by force;
Storm the fort
Common Curiosities
Can force exist without motion?
Yes, force can exist without causing motion, as seen in static situations where forces are balanced.
How do forces affect everyday life?
Forces affect everything from walking (friction, gravitational force) to driving (engine thrust, friction, air resistance).
Is the measurement of force and thrust always in Newtons?
Yes, both force and thrust are measured in Newtons (N) in the SI system.
How do forces interact in nature?
Forces interact in a complex balance, involving gravitational, electromagnetic, and other forces, maintaining the structure of the universe.
Is thrust only applicable to air and space travel?
While commonly associated with air and space travel, thrust is also applicable in marine propulsion and in any system requiring forward motion.
What role does thrust play in rocket launches?
Thrust is crucial in rocket launches, overcoming Earth's gravity to propel the rocket into space.
Can thrust be negative?
While thrust is generally positive, indicating forward propulsion, reverse thrust is used in some contexts, like braking aircraft.
What is force in simple terms?
Force is any interaction that changes or tends to change an object's state of motion or rest.
How is thrust generated in a jet engine?
Thrust in a jet engine is generated by expelling gas backward at high speed, creating forward propulsion due to the reaction force.
How is thrust used in underwater vehicles?
Underwater vehicles use thrust generated by propellers or jet systems to navigate through water.
Is thrust affected by external factors like air resistance?
Yes, thrust must overcome external factors like air resistance and gravity to achieve propulsion.
What is the significance of force in construction?
In construction, understanding forces ensures structures can withstand loads and environmental stresses.
How does friction relate to force?
Friction is a force that opposes the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two surfaces in contact.
Can the direction of thrust be changed?
Yes, in many propulsion systems, the direction of thrust can be varied to steer the vehicle.
What's the difference between weight and force?
Weight is a specific type of force caused by gravity acting on mass, whereas force can be due to various interactions.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
