where \(\phi\) is the angle between \(\vec r\) and \(\vec F\), as shown in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\). \(F \sin \phi\) is precisely the component of \(\vec F\) that is perpendicular to \(\vec r\), so we...where \(\phi\) is the angle between \(\vec r\) and \(\vec F\), as shown in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\). \(F \sin \phi\) is precisely the component of \(\vec F\) that is perpendicular to \(\vec r\), so we could also write the magnitude of the torque as: \[\begin{aligned} \tau =rF_\perp\end{aligned}\] which highlights that only the component of the force that is perpendicular to \(\vec r\) contributes to the torque.
