Generalized forces are a concept from classical mechanics used in the context of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. They extend the idea of force beyond merely the conventional forces acting on a system (like gravity, friction, etc.) to include other types of influences that can affect the motion of a system.
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Generalized forces are the coefficients of virtual work in a set of generalized coordinates. A translational coordinate has a force as its coefficient, while an angular coordinate has a torque. A generalized force conjugate to has units of energy divided by the units of . Forces not already included in the Lagrangian enter the Euler-Lagrange equations as .