TheAlgorithms/Python · error · ValueError

Magnitude of force can not be negative

Error message

Magnitude of force can not be negative

What it means

Error "Magnitude of force can not be negative" thrown in TheAlgorithms/Python.

Source

Thrown at physics/casimir_effect.py:93

    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: One and only one argument must be 0

    >>> casimir_force(force = 3457e-12, area = 0, distance = -0.00344)
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: Distance can not be negative

    >>> casimir_force(force = -912e-12, area = 0, distance = 0.09374)
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: Magnitude of force can not be negative
    """

    if (force, area, distance).count(0) != 1:
        raise ValueError("One and only one argument must be 0")
    if force < 0:
        raise ValueError("Magnitude of force can not be negative")
    if distance < 0:
        raise ValueError("Distance can not be negative")
    if area < 0:
        raise ValueError("Area can not be negative")
    if force == 0:
        force = (REDUCED_PLANCK_CONSTANT * SPEED_OF_LIGHT * pi**2 * area) / (
            240 * (distance) ** 4
        )
        return {"force": force}
    elif area == 0:
        area = (240 * force * (distance) ** 4) / (
            REDUCED_PLANCK_CONSTANT * SPEED_OF_LIGHT * pi**2
        )
        return {"area": area}
    elif distance == 0:
        distance = (
            (REDUCED_PLANCK_CONSTANT * SPEED_OF_LIGHT * pi**2 * area) / (240 * force)
        ) ** (1 / 4)

View on GitHub (pinned to f5988cc097)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-negative force magnitude.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at physics/casimir_effect.py:93 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of TheAlgorithms/Python@f5988cc097 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a1d16713b8c97879. Report an issue: GitHub.