Florida Statewide Science Assessment (SSA) Practice Exam

A force that is exerted only when two objects touch is a contact force. This type of force arises from direct contact between objects, such as friction between surfaces, the normal push from a surface, or the force you feel when you push on something. It disappears when the objects separate, because there is no longer any contact to produce the force. In contrast, forces like gravity act without touching (noncontact forces), and mass is not a force at all. So the term that fits the description is contact force.