A non-contact force is a force

Force

In physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...

 applied to an object by another body that is not in direct contact with it. The most familiar example of a non-contact force is gravity. In contrast a contact force

Contact force

In physics, a contact force is a force that acts at the point of contact between two objects, in contrast to body forces. Contact forces are described by Newton's laws of motion, as with all other forces in dynamics....

 is a force applied to a body by another body that is in contact with it. However it is to be noted that the origin of all contact forces (such as, for example, friction) can be traced to non-contact forces.

The four known fundamental interactions are all non-contact forces:

• Gravity, a non-contact force between an two objects, and related to the concept of mass
  Mass
  Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
  
  . The force exerted on each body by the other through weight is proportional to the mass of the first body times the mass of the second body divided by the square of the distance between them. The direction of the force is from the body acted on towards the body applying the force. A human body's weight is a non-contact force exerted by the Earth on their mass.

• Electromagnetism
  Electromagnetism
  Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
  
   is the force that causes the interaction between electrically charged particles; the areas in which this happens are called electromagnetic fields. Examples of this force include: electricity
  Electricity
  Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
  
  , magnetism
  Magnetism
  Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
  
  , radio waves
  Radio waves
  Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and corresponding wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 100 kilometers. Like all other electromagnetic waves,...
  
  , microwaves, infrared
  Infrared
  Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
  
  , visible light, X-rays and gamma rays.

• Strong nuclear force: Unlike Gravity and electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force is a short distance force that takes place between fundamental particles within a nucleus
  Atomic nucleus
  The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom. It was discovered in 1911, as a result of Ernest Rutherford's interpretation of the famous 1909 Rutherford experiment performed by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, under the direction of Rutherford. The...
  
  . It is charge
  Electric charge
  Electric charge is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when near other electrically charged matter. Electric charge comes in two types, called positive and negative. Two positively charged substances, or objects, experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two...
  
   independent and acts equally between a proton
  Proton
  The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number....
  
   and a proton, a neutron
  Neutron
  The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
  
   and a neutron, and a proton and a neutron. The strong nuclear force is the strongest force in nature; however, its range is small (acting only over distances of the order of 10⁻¹⁵ m).

• Weak nuclear force: The weak nuclear force appears only in certain nuclear processes like β decay
  Beta decay
  In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted from an atom. There are two types of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus. In the case of beta decay that produces an electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a...
  
   of a nucleus, in which the nucleus emits a β particle
  Beta particle
  Beta particles are high-energy, high-speed electrons or positrons emitted by certain types of radioactive nuclei such as potassium-40. The beta particles emitted are a form of ionizing radiation also known as beta rays. The production of beta particles is termed beta decay...
  
   and an uncharged particle called a neutrino
  Neutrino
  A neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
  
  . Both the strong and weak forces form an important part of quantum mechanics
  Quantum mechanics
  Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
  
  .