Edexcel AL Mathematics: Moments of forces

Section 1: The moment of a force

Notes and Examples
These notes contain the following subsections:
Rigid bodies
The moment of a force
Equilibrium of rigid bodies

Rigid bodies
In all the work you have done so far in Mechanics, you have modelled objects as particles.
A particle has no size, so all forces acting on it act at a point. However, if you think about a
larger object such as a plank, with forces acting on it at different points, the forces have a
turning effect, so it is not reasonable to consider the object as a particle.
Note that even quite a large body can be reasonably considered as a particle if all the
forces on it act through the same point. This explains why you were able to use the particle
model in previous work in Mechanics, even for large objects such as a car!
When working with objects that cannot be modelled as a particle, you need to know where
all the forces act. The weight of the object acts at its centre of mass, so you need to know
where this is. Objects such as planks and rods are usually modelled as uniform, which
means that the centre of mass is at the centre of the object, and so this is where the weight
acts.
All the objects you deal with in this chapter are considered to be rigid bodies: i.e. they do
not change shape when forces are applied to them. This is a reasonable assumption in
most circumstances, although in reality many planks bend when a large weight is placed on
them.

The moment of a force

When a force is applied to a rigid body, there is a turning effect. The magnitude of the
turning effect is given by the moment of the force.
The moment of a force about a point O is given by
Moment = force  perpendicular distance of the force from O.
The standard unit for moment is Newton metres (Nm).

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So a larger force produces a larger moment, but also a force acting further from the point
produces a larger moment. This principle is used in real life when using a lever to lift a
heavy object – a longer lever is more effective.

2m
O The moment of the 5 N force about O
is 5  2 = 10 Nm in a clockwise
5N direction

3m
The moment of the 5 N force about O
O is 5  3 = 15 Nm in a clockwise
direction
5N

Notice that it only makes sense to talk about the moment of the force in relation to a
particular point. In a three-dimensional situation, the moment is really about an axis rather
than a point, but when all the forces act in the same plane and the axis is perpendicular to
that plane, you can think of it as a point.
Just as forces can be combined to give a resultant force, moments can be added to give a
resultant moment. The direction of the turning effect of each moment must be taken into
account, as shown in the following example.

Example 1
The diagram shows three forces acting on a rectangular lamina ABCD.

10 N
5N 4m
D C

3m

A 2m B
2m

20 N

(a) Find the total anticlockwise moment of the forces about the point A.
(b) Find the total anticlockwise moment of the forces about the point B.

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Solution
(a)

The 10 N force acts anticlockwise about A, so this has a positive moment, and the 5 N and 20 N forces act
clockwise about A, so each of these have a negative moment.

Total moment anticlockwise about A = 10  4 − 20  2 − 5  3

= −15Nm

As the result is negative, the resultant moment has turned out to be in the clockwise direction.

(b)

The 20 N force acts anticlockwise about B, so this has a positive moment. The 5 N force acts clockwise
about B, so this has a negative moment. The 10 N force acts through B, so this does not have a moment
about B, as the distance involved is 0.

Total moment anticlockwise about B = 20  2 − 5  3

= 25Nm

Equilibrium of rigid bodies

The moment of a force about a point produces a turning effect about the point. So for a rigid
body to be in equilibrium, not only must there be no resultant force acting on the body, but
there must be no net turning effect. So the total moment about any given point must be
zero.
Where there is a hinge or fulcrum there is always some kind of reaction force at the hinge
or fulcrum. This is why it often makes sense to take moments about the hinge or fulcrum, as
the reaction force has no moment about that point.
Many problems can be solved by using a combination of resolving forces and taking
moments. In A level Mathematics the problems you meet will be restricted to those in which
all the forces act in parallel directions, so only one equation can be obtained by resolving
forces. A second equation is obtained by taking moments about a suitable point.
Alternatively, you can solve problems by taking moments about two different points, and not
resolving forces at all. Either method is equally valid, and the choice in this case is really
down to personal preference.

Example 2
A uniform plank AB of length 2m and weight 20 N rests on two supports, one 40cm from
A and the other 60cm from B.

(a) Find the reaction force at each support.

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(b) A cat of mass 40 N starts from the centre of the plank and walks towards A.
How far from A is the cat when the plank tips?

Solution
(a)

Draw a diagram showing all forces and distances. Because the plank is uniform, the weight acts at the centre
of the plank, 1m from each end.

R1 R2
0.4 0.6 0.4 0.6
A B
P Q
20

You could take moments about any point, but using P means that the force R1 will not be involved in the
equation as it passes through P, so this will give an equation with R2 as the only unknown. You could take
moments about Q instead. The total moment must be 0 as the plank is in equilibrium.

Taking moments about P: 1  R2 − 0.6  20 = 0

R2 = 12

You could take moments about another point, such as Q, but perhaps the simplest approach is to resolve
vertically.

Resolving vertically: R1 + R2 − 20 = 0
R1 + 12 − 20 = 0
R1 = 8
The reaction forces at the supports are 12 N and 8 N .

(b)

The plank won’t tip until the cat has gone past the support at P. The diagram shows the cat distance x to the
left of P. Note that the values of R1 and R2 are not the same as in part (a).

R1 R2
x 0.6 0.4 0.6
A B
P Q
40 20

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When the plank starts to tip, the reaction force at Q is zero because the plank loses contact with the support.

Taking moments about P: 0.6  20 − 40 x = 0

x = 0.3
The cat is 0.3m from P so that means it is 0.1m from A.

So the cat is 10cm from A when the plank tips.

Note that you cannot solve problems involving three unknowns in which all the forces act in
parallel directions. If you write down an equation by resolving forces and two equations by
taking moments about two different points, you will find that each of the equations could be
obtained by combining the other two in some way. So the problems that you meet in this
section will be restricted to two unknowns.
In the next section, you will look at situations in which the forces do not all act in parallel
directions. In such cases you can solve a problem involving three unknowns by finding
three equations: either resolving forces in two directions and taking moments about one
point, or by resolving forces in one direction and taking moments about two points.

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