Ghapter 1

Forces and
moments
The solution of many of the problems concerned with ship stability involves
an understanding of the resolution of forces and moments. For this reason a
brief examinationof the basicprinciples will be advisable.

Forces
Aforce can be defined as any push or pull exertedon a body. The S.I.unit of
force is the Newton, one Newton being the force required to produce in a
mass of one kilogram an accelerationof one metre per second.When con-
sidering a force the following points regarding the force must be known:

(a) The magnitude of the force.

(b) The direction in which the force is applied.
(c) The point at which the force is applied.

The resultantforce.\tVhentwo or more forces are acting at a point, their

combined effect can be representedby one force which will have the same
effect as the component forces.Such a force is referred to as the 'resultant
force', and the processof finding it is called the'resolution of the compon-
ent forces'.
Theresolutionofforces.When resolving forcesit will be appreciatedthat a
force acting towards a point will have the sameeffect as an equal force act-
ing away from the point, so long asboth forcesact in the samedirection and
in the same straight line. Thus a force of 10 Newtons (N) pushing to the
right on a certain point can be substituted for a force of 10 Newtons (N)
pulling to the right from the samepoint.

(a) Resoloingtwoforcesrahichact in thesamestraightline

If both forces act in the same straight line and in the same direction the
resultant is their sum, but if the forces act in opposite directions the result-
ant is the difference of the two forces and acts in the direction of the larger
of the two forces.
 Ship Stabilityfor Mastersand Mates

Example I
Whilst moving an objectone man pulls on it with a force of 200Newtons, and
another pushes in the same direction with a force of 300 Newtons. Find the
resultant force propelling the object.
Component forces300 N 200 N
,A
The resu-ltantforce is obviously 500 Newtons, the sum of the two forces,
and acts in the direction of eachof the component forces.
Resultantforce500NA or A 500N
----)-'

Example2
A forceof 5 Newtonsis appliedtowardsa point whilst a forceof 2 Newtons
is appliedat the samepoint but in the oppositedirection.Find the resultant
force.
Componentforces5I A_?N

Sincethe forcesare appliedin oppositedirections,the magnitudeof the

resultantis thedifferenceof thetwo forcesandactsin thedirectionof the5 N
force.
Resultantforce3\ or o._g_
I
(b) Resoluingtwoforceswhichdo not act in thesamestraightline
\rVhenthe two forcesdo not act in the samestraight line, their resultant can
be found by completing a parallelogram of forces.

ExampleI
A force of 3 Newtons and a force of 5 N act towards a point at an angle of
120 degrees to each other. Find the direction and magnitude of the resultant.

A 5N

F i s .1 . 1

Ans.Resultant
4.36Nat 36"34:' to the5N force.
Nofe.Notice that eachof the componentforcesand the resultant all act towards
the pointA.
 Forcesand moments 5

:=r\
D

Fis.1.2

Example
2
A ship steamsdue east for an hour at 9 knots through a current which sets
120degrees(T) at 3 knots. Find the courseand distancemade good.
The ship's force would propel her from A to B in one hour and the current
would propel her from A to C in one hour. The resultant is AD, 0.97+" x tL.6
miles and this will representthe courseand distancemade good in one hour.
Nofe. In the above example both of the component forces and the resultant
force all act away from the point A.

Example 3
A force of 3 N actsdownwards towards a point whilst another force of 5 N acts
away from the point to the right as shown in Figure 1.3.Find the resultant.

5N

F i g .1 . 3

ln this example one force is acting towards the point and the secondforce
is acting away from the point. Before completing the parallelogram, substi-
tute either a force of 3N acting away from the point for the force of 3N
towards the point as shown in Figure 1,.4,or a force of 5 N towards the point

F i g .1 . 4
6 Ship Stabilityfor Mastersand Mates

Fis.1.5

for the forceof 5N awayfrom the point asshownin Figure1.5.hr this way
both of the forcesacteithertowardsor awayfrom the point.Themagnitude
and directionof the resultantis the samewhicheversubstitutionis made;
i.e.5.83Nat an angleof 59oto thevertical.

(c) Resolaingtwoforcesznhichact in paralleldirections

When two forces act in parallel directions, their combined effect can be
representedby one force whose magnitude is equal to the algebraicsum of
the two component forces,and which will act through a point about which
their moments are equal.
The following two examplesmay help to make this clear.

Example1
In Figure1.6theparallelforcesW andP areactingupwardsthroughA andB
respectively.Let W be greaterthan P.Their resultant(W + P) actsupwards
throughthe point C suchthat P X y : W X x. SinceW is greaterthanP,the
point C will be nearerto B thanto A.

F i g .1 . 6

Example 2
In Figure 1.7 the parallel forces W and P act in opposite directions through
A and B respectively.IfW is again greaterthan P,their resultant (W - P) acts
through point C onAB produced such that P x y : W x x.
 Forcesand moments 7

W-P
F i g .1 . 7

Moments of forces
Themomentof aforce is a measureof the turning effect of the force about a
point. The turning effect will depend upon the following:
(a) The magnitude of the force.
(b) The length of the lever upon which the force acts,the ldver being the
perpendicular distancebetween the line of action of the force and the
point about which the moment is being taken.
The magnitude of the moment is the product of the force and the length of
the lever. Thus, if the force is measuredin Newtons and the length of the lever
in metres,the moment found will be expressedin Newton-metres (Nm).
Resultantmoment.When two or more forcesare acting about a point their
combined effect can be representedby one imaginary moment called the
'ResultantMoment'. The
processof finding the resultantmoment is referred
to as the 'Resolution of the Component Moments'.
Resolutionof moments.To calculate the resultant moment about a point,
find the sum of the moments to produce rotation in a clockwise direction
about the point, and the sum of the moments to produce rotation in an anti-
clockwise direction. Take the lesserof thesetwo moments from the greater
and the difference will be the magnitude of the resultant. The direction in
which it actswill be that of the greater of the two component moments.

Example1
A capstanconsistsof a drum 2 metresin diameteraroundwhich a rope is
wound,andfour leversat right anglesto eachother,eachbeing2 metreslong.
If a man on the end of each lever pusheswith a force of 500 Newtons, what
strain is put on the rope? (SeeFigure 1.8(a).)
Moments are taken about O, the centre of the drum.

Total moment in an anti-clockwise direction : 4 * (Z x 500) Nm

The resultant moment : 4000 Nm (Anti-clockwise)
Let the strain on the rope : P Newtons
The moment about O : (p X 1) Nm
.'.Px1:4000
orP:4000N

Ans.The strain is 4000N.

 Ship Stabilityfor Mastersand Mates

Nofe.For a body to remain at rest, the resultant force acting on the body must
be zero and the resultant moment about its centre of gravity must also be
zero, if the centre of gravity be considereda fixed point.

Mass
In the S.I. system of units it is most important to distinguish between the
mass of a body and its weight. Mass is the fundamental measure of the
quantity of matter in a body and is expressedin terms of the kilogram and
the tonne, whilst the weight of a body is the force exerted on it by the
Earth's gravitational force and is measuredin terms of the Newton (N) and
kilo-Newton (kN).
Weight and mass are connectedby the formula:

Weight : Mass X Acceleration

Example2
Find theweightof a body of mass50kilogramsat a placewherethe acceler-
ation
due
togravitv
ffi:T:, :;::ff""""'
: 50 x 9.81

Ant.\lV"igtrt:j90!N
 Forcesand moments 9

Moments of mass
If the force of gravity is considered constant then the weight of bodies is pro-
portional to their mass and the resultant moment of two or more weights
about a point can be expressed in terms of their mass moments.

Example 3
A uniform plank is 3 metres long and is supported at a point under its mid-
length. A load having a mass of 10 kilograms is placed at a distance of
0.5 metres from one end and a second load of mass 30 kilograms is placed
at a distance of one metre from the other end. Find the resultant momenr
about the middle of the plank.

1 0k g 30 kg

Fis.1.8(b)

Moments are taken about O, the middle of the plank.

Clockwisemoment : 30 x 0.5
:15kgm
Anti-clockwise moment = 10 x 1
:10kgm
Resultant moment : 15 - 10

Ans. Resultantmoment : 5kgm clockwise

1 0 S h i p S t a b i l i t yf o r M a s t e r sa n d M a t e s

Exercise 1
1 A capstanbar is 3 metreslong. TWomen are pushing on the bar, eachwith
a force of 400Newtons. If one man is placed half-way along the bar and the
other at the extreme end of the bar, find the resultant moment about the
centre of the capstan.
2 A uniform plank is 6 metreslong and is supported at a point under its mid-
Iength. A 10kg massis placed on the plank at a distanceof 0.5 metres from
one end and a 20kg mass is placed on the plank 2 metres from the other
end. Find the resultant moment about the centre of the plank.
3 A uniform plank is 5 metres long and is supported at a point under its mid-
length. A 15kg massis placed 1 metre from one end and a 10kg massis placed
1.2metres from the other end. Find where a 13kg massmust be placed on the
plank so that the plank will not tilt.
4 A weightless bar 2 metres long is suspended from the ceiling at a point
which is 0.5metresin from one end. Suspendedfrom the sameend is a mass
of 110kg.Find the masswhich must be suspendedfrom a point 0.3 metres
in from the other end of the bar so that the bar will remain horizontal.
5 Threeweights are placed on a plank. One of L5kg massis placed 0.6metres
in from one end, the next of 12kg mass is placed 1.5 metres in from the
same end and the last of 18kg massis placed 3 metres from this end. If the
mass of the plank be ignored, find the resultant moment about the end of
the plank.