The+Superposition+Principle

New Term Breakdown:
 * superposition principle
 * superposition
 * super - having greater influence or higher position
 * position - location
 * superposition - put something above something else
 * principle - in science, a general theorem or law that can be applied across a field

superposition principle:

 * =====dictionary definition: principle holding that two or more solutions to a linear equation or set of linear equations can be added together so that their sum is also a solution. (1) =====
 * simplified for our topic: When multiple forces act on an object, the result is the sum of results that each force would have, if applied alone. In the case of an electric force,

Electric Force (//F electric // ) like all forces has both magnitude and direction. When we first began working with Coulomb's Law for two charges we indicated the direction of the force by simply stating whether it was an attractive or repulsive force. Now, we will be working with more than one charge interacting with our charge of interest and the terms attractive and repulsive will not be descriptive enough for the direction of the force.

The sum of all of the electric forces working on the charge in question may be towards or away from any of the other forces, depending on the effect of all of the other forces.

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1. "superposition principle." //The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition//. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 03 Feb. 2010. .=====