Paul A.

Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
16.001/002 -- Unified Engineering
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Unit U-B
(All About)
Forces and Moments
Readings:
CDL 1.5
Unit U-B - p. 2 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR UNIT U-B
Through participation in the lectures, recitations, and work
associated with Unit U-B, it is intended that you will be able
to
.utilize the basic concepts associated with forces
and moments
.determine moments about any location as caused
by forces
.utilize the concept of a couple
Unit U-B - p. 3 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Forces
First, what is a force?
--> Definition: A force is a measure of the action of one body or
media on another (push or pull)
Force has:
and best represented by vectors
Figure U4.1 A vector
F
_
Note: Bar under F denotes it is a vector
magnitude
direction
point of application
length proportional to magnitude
arrow denotes direction
tip is at point of application
Unit U-B - p. 4 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
The Force can be expressed as:
are the components of the force in each of
the three associated directions
Figure U4.2 Demonstration of the components of a force vector
x
1
x
3
x
2
F
_
i
1
_ F
1
i
2
_ F
2
i
3
_ F
3
There are two important force relations:
F
i
F
1
, F
2
, F
3
( )
F = F
1
i
1
+ F
2
i
2
+ F
3
i
3
where:
Unit U-B - p. 5 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Figure U4.3 Line of action of a force
F
_
p
line of action
But on rigid bodies, force can be slid along line of action without
changing its influence (the force is transmitted)
Figure U4.4 Concept of transmissibility of a force
F
_
p
F
_
p
q
same
as
In addition to a magnitude, direction, and point of application, forces also
have a line of action
Transmissibility of Forces
Unit U-B - p. 6 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Figure U4.5 Demonstration of the parallelogram rule
F
_
p
G
_
_
R
easier way is mathematically to add the components in each of the
three directions of the rectangular cartesian system
F and G are two forces (vectors)
R = F + G
F = F
1
i
1
+ F
2
i
2
+ F
3
i
3
G = G
1
i
1
+ G
2
i
2
+ G
3
i
3
! R = F
1
+ G
1
( )
i
1
+ F
2
+ G
2
( )
i
2
+ F
3
+ G
3
( )
i
3
R = R
m
i
m
m=1
3
"
can also write as:
--> Summation of Forces - Parallelogram Rule:
To add two vectors graphically, construct a parallelogram to find resultant
! R = F
1
+ G
1
( ) i
1
+ F
2
+ G
2
( )
i
2
+ F
3
+ G
3
( )
i
3
Unit U-B - p. 7 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Moments
We have looked at/considered forces.
But a force actually results (or can result) in two things:
line force
moment about a point/force
Both are needed when we move on to consider equilibrium
Definition: A moment is a force about (or around) an axis
Figure U4.6 Example: representation of force parallel to x
1
in x
1
, x
2
plane
x
2
x
3
x
1
F
_
d
Unit U-B - p. 8 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Magnitude of moment about x
3
is:
Direction of moment is given by Right Hand Rule
(vector to force) x (force vector) = (moment vector)
Figure U4.7 Representation of moment due to force in x
1
, x
2
plane
x
2
x
3
x
1
F
_
d
|
m
_
| |
_
d =
| |
F
_
|
Note:
= Moment about that axis
(since sin 90 = 1) F ! d = Fd
Unit U-B - p. 9 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
where r is (position) vector from origin to point of application of F
Moment about origin
More generally, the moment of F about the origin is:
m = r ! F
Figure U4.8 Representation of moment about origin caused by general
force
x
2
x
3
x
1
m
_
r
_
F
_
!
Consider a plane defined by r and F:
m = r F sin !
Unit U-B - p. 10 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
can also look at as:
m = r sin !
[ ]
F
a
Figure U4.9 Representation of plane of force and vector to force
So: magnitude of moment is magnitude of force times
perpendicular distance from origin to line of action of
force
What about if we want to know the moment about some arbitrary
point?
r
_
F
_
!
O
a
Unit U-B - p. 11 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Figure U4.10 Representation of geometry to determine moment about
arbitrary point
x
2
x
3
x
1
r
_
F
_
r
q
_
r
p
_
q
p
r
p
and r
q
are position vectors from origin to points p and q,
respectively
r is vector from p to q
So: r
q
= r
p
+ r ! r = r
q
" r
p
Moment about p is:
m = r ! F = r
q
" r
p
( )
! F
Moment about arbitrary point
Consider force F at point q and we want to know moment about p
Unit U-B - p. 12 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Physically think of plane with F, q, and p. Draw line from p
perpendicular to line of action of F. Length of this line is
r
q
! r
p
sin "
Figure U4.11 Representation of plane of force line of action and pointer
vector
r
_
F
_
q
p
!
*
We can take this one last step and find the
Moment about arbitrary axis
Consider force F at point q and we want to know moment about line

l
Define point p on and a unit vector from point p

l

l

l =
a
a
where a is any vector on

l
arbitrary unit vector definition
Unit U-B - p. 13 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Figure U4.12 Representation of geometry for determining moment
about arbitrary axis
x
2
x
3
x
1
r
_
F
_
q
p
l
_
l
We know that:
m = r x F
So component of m along can be found via dot product:

l

m
l
= l ! m = l ! r " F ( )
is a scalar

m
l

_ _
Unit U-B - p. 14 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Physically, think of plane defined by and F, then find
angle between them and perpendicular distance

l
Often when we do analysis, we like to divide forces and moments. We
therefore need to deal with the concept of a pure moment or a..
Couple
Results from 2 parallel (coplanar) forces of equal magnitude and opposite
directions
Figure U4.13 Representation of a force couple
x
2
x
3
x
1
r
_
r
oq
_
q
p
r
op
_
F
q
_
F
p
_
F
p
and F
q
are equal magnitude but opposite directions
Unit U-B - p. 15 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Thus:
--> Net Force (resultant)
None
--> Net Moment about origin (resultant)
C
o
= r
op
! -F ( ) + r
oq
! F
= r
oq
" r
op
( )
! F = r ! F
C = r ! F
Physically, think of perpendicular distance between two forces
Figure U4.14 Representation of perpendicular distance between two
forces
x
2
x
3
x
1
r
_
F
_
F
_
a
!
a = r sin !
F + -F ( ) = 0
Unit U-B - p. 16 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Note: Magnitude and direction of couple does
not change as point about which couple
is taken changes
Why? stays the same! a
Demonstrate by considering points:
Figure U4.15 Representation of considering couple about another point
x
2
x
3
x
1
r
_
q
p
s
F
_
F
_
r
sq
_
r
sp
_
C
s
= r
sp
! -F
( )
+ r
sq
! F
= r
sq
" r
sp
( )
! F
= r ! F
as before!
Unit U-B - p. 17 Paul A. Lagace 2007
MIT - 16.001/16.002 Fall, 2008
Figure U4.16 Representation of alternate way to think of couple
F
_
F
_
a / 2 a / 2
Use symbol to represent this.
Gives sense/direction.
Need magnitude to go with it.
a F
Our example:
Figure U4.17 Representation of moment with moment symbol
Note: Pure moments can move around
anywhere since they have the same effect
about any point!
Think of couple as two equal forces pointed in opposite directions:
M = C = 2
a
2
F = aF