Lecture 45 | The Second Condition for Equilibrium & Torque | Physics

Welcome back to Physics Basics! To completely prevent a system from experiencing accelerated rotation, a second condition for equilibrium must be met: the net external torque on the system must be zero . But what exactly is torque? Torque is the rotational equivalent of a force, measuring how effective a force is at changing rotation . We break down how to calculate torque using the magnitude of the force, the direction you push, and the distance from the pivot point . Watch us walk through a practical example of using perpendicular lever arms to balance two children on a seesaw ___________________________________________________________________________ This video is based on open educational resources, including materials from publicly available academic textbooks. I do not claim ownership of any original textbook content, figures, or structured materials referenced in this video. This content is explanation of the topic in simplified form, intended to help students understand the concepts in a more intuitive and accessible way. This video is not a substitute for the original textbooks and is not intended to infringe on any copyright. All credit goes to the respective authors and publishers.