ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Generalized force

Generalized force is like a special kind of push or pull that makes things move. Whenever you do something, like push a toy car or throw a ball, you're using a force. But not all forces are the same. Some forces, called generalized forces, are extra special because they affect how things move in certain ways.

Imagine you have a spinning top toy. If you wanted to make it spin faster, you might give it a special kind of push, like hitting it with a hammer. This would be a generalized force because it's not a normal push that just moves the toy in a straight line. Instead, it changes how the toy spins around.

Another example of a generalized force is gravity. You know how you always stay on the ground, right? That's because of gravity. It's a kind of force that pulls things down towards the center of the earth. But gravity is also a generalized force because it affects how things move through space. For example, if you threw a ball really hard in one direction, gravity would make it curve downwards as it traveled.

So, to sum it up, a generalized force is a special kind of push or pull that affects how things move in specific ways. Whether it's by changing how something spins or by making things curve through space, these forces have an important impact on how the world around us moves and behaves.