Extended Activity Torques and Rotational Motion The rotational effect which an applied force has on a body (i.e. the angular acceleration it will give that body) is determined by the torque which that force has, not merely by the magnitude of that force. The torque of a force about the axis of rotation is given by the product Torque = (magnitude of force)(lever arm), or where the lever arm, , is defined as the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the axis of rotation. To illustrate the validity of this statement, you will apply several forces to a body and determine the angular acceleration each of these forces imparts to that body. A graph of the magnitude of the force versus the angular acceleration will show that there is no clear correlation between these variables. You will be able to observe cases where the applied forces are of practically the same magnitude but significantly different angular accelerations are produced. A graph of the applied torque versus angular acceleration will show a very definite correlation between these vari-ables. This correlation is summarized by the rotational form of Newton's Second Law, which states that the applied torque