Action at a distance (physics)

Have you ever played with a magnet and noticed that it can attract another magnet or even a metal object without touching it? This is what we call action at a distance!

In physics, action at a distance means that an object can affect another object without physically touching it. Instead, there is some invisible force that connects them and allows them to interact with each other.

For example, imagine throwing a ball across the room to your friend. The ball doesn't magically fly through the air towards your friend. Instead, there is a force called gravity that pulls the ball towards the ground and air resistance that slows it down. These invisible forces affect the motion of the ball, even though they are not touching it.

Another example is the electric force between two charged objects. Like magnets, charged objects can attract or repel each other without physical contact. There is an invisible electric field that surrounds the charged objects and can interact with other charged objects nearby.

So, action at a distance is just the idea that forces can affect objects without touching them, but instead through some sort of invisible connection or force.