ENGINEERING

MECHANICS
ME 2401

EQUILIBRIUM
SYSTEM OF
FORCES
 Contents

Introduction Mixed Triple Products

External and Internal Forces Moment of a Force About a Given Axis
Vector Products Sample Problem 3.5
Moment of a Force About a Point Moment of a Couple
Varignon’s Theorem Addition of Couples
Rectangular Components of the Moment o Couple Vectors
f a Force
Resolution of a Force Into a Force at O
Sample Problem 3.1 and a Couple
Sample Problem 3.4 Sample Problem 3.6
Problem 3.1 Reducing a System of Forces to a Force-Coup
Problem 3.2 le System

Scalar Products Further Reduction of a System of Forces

Applications of the Scalar Product Sample Problem 3.10

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 Introduction

• Treatment of a body as a single particle is not always possible. In general,

the size of the body and the specific points of application of the forces
must be considered.

• Current chapter describes the effect of forces exerted on a rigid body and
how to replace a given system of forces with a simpler equivalent system.

• First, we need to learn some new statics concepts, including:

• moment of a force about a point
• moment of a force about an axis
• moment due to a couple

• Any system of forces acting on a rigid body can be replaced by an equivalent

system consisting of one force acting at a given point and one couple.

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 External and Internal Forces

• Forces acting on rigid bodies are

divided into two groups:
- External forces
- Internal forces

• External forces are shown in a free

body diagram.

• Internal forces, such as the force

between each wheel and the axel
it is mount on, are never shown
on a free body diagram.

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 Vector Products
• Concept of the moment of a force about a point
requires the understanding of the vector product
or cross product.

• Vector product of two vectors P and Q is defined

as the vector V which satisfies the following
conditions:
1. Line of action of V is perpendicular to plane
containing P and Q.
2. Magnitude of V is
3. Direction of V is obtained from the right-hand
rule.

• Vector products:
- are not commutative,
- are distributive,
- are not associative,

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 Moment of a Force About a Point
• A force vector is defined by its magnitude and
direction. Its effect on the rigid body also depends
on its point of application.
• The moment of F about O is defined as

• The moment vector MO is perpendicular to the

plane containing O and the force F.

• Magnitude of MO, ,
measures the tendency of the force to cause rotation of
the body about an axis along MO. The sense of the
moment may be determined by the right-hand rule.
• Any force F’ that has the same magnitude and
direction as F, is equivalent if it also has the same line
of action and therefore, produces the same moment.

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 Moment of a Force About a Point

• Two-dimensional structures have length and breadth but

negligible depth and are subjected to forces contained
only in the plane of the structure.

• The plane of the structure contains the point O and the

force F. MO, the moment of the force about O is
perpendicular to the plane.

• If the force tends to rotate the structure clockwise, the

sense of the moment vector is out of the plane of the
structure and the magnitude of the moment is positive.

• If the force tends to rotate the structure

counterclockwise, the sense of the moment vector is into
the plane of the structure and the magnitude of the
moment is negative.

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 Varignon’s Theorem

• The moment about a give point O of the

resultant of several concurrent forces is equal
to the sum of the moments of the various
moments about the same point O.

• Varignon’s Theorem makes it possible to

replace the direct determination of the
moment of a force F by the moments of two
or more component forces of F.

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 Rectangular Components of the Moment of
a Force
For two-dimensional structures,

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 Sample Problem 3.1

A 100-lb vertical force is applied to the end of a

lever which is attached to a shaft (not shown) at
O.
Determine:
a) the moment about O,
b) the horizontal force at A which creates the same
moment,
c) the smallest force at A which produces the same
moment,
d) the location for a 240-lb vertical force to produce
the same moment,
e) whether any of the forces from b, c, and d is
equivalent to the original force.

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 Sample Problem 3.1

STRATEGY: The calculations asked for all involve

variations on the basic defining equation of a
moment, MO = Fd.
MODELING and ANALYSIS:
a) Moment about O is equal to the product of the
force and the perpendicular distance between the
line of action of the force and O. Since the force
tends to rotate the lever clockwise, the moment
vector is into the plane of the paper which, by our
sign convention, would be negative or
counterclockwise.

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 Sample Problem 3.1

b) Horizontal force at A that produces the same

moment,

Why must the direction of this F be to the right?

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 Sample Problem 3.1

F(min) ?
What is the smallest force at A which produces the
same moment? Think about it and discuss with a
neighbor.

c) The smallest force at A to produce the same

moment occurs when the perpendicular distance is
a maximum or when F is perpendicular to OA.

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 Sample Problem 3.1

d) To determine the point of application of a 240 lb

force to produce the same moment,

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 Sample Problem 3.1

e) Although each of the forces in parts b), c), and d)

produces the same moment as the 100 lb force, none
are of the same magnitude and sense, or on the same
line of action. None of the forces is equivalent to the
100 lb force.

REFLECT and THINK: Various combinations of force and lever arm can
produce equivalent moments, but the system of force and moment produces
a different overall effect in each case.

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 Sample Problem 3.4
The rectangular plate is supported by the brackets at A and B and by a wire CD.
Knowing that the tension in the wire is 200 N, determine the moment about A of the
force exerted by the wire at C.

STRATEGY: The solution requires

resolving the tension in the wire and
the position vector from A to C into
rectangular components. You will
need a unit vector approach to
determine the force components.

MODELING and ANALYSIS:

The moment MA of the force F exerted
by the wire is obtained by evaluating
the vector product,

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 Problem 3.1
The rectangular plate is supported by the brackets at A and B and by a wire CD.
Knowing that the tension in the wire is 200 N, determine the moment about A of the
force exerted by the wire at C.

STRATEGY: The solution requires

resolving the tension in the wire and
the position vector from A to C into
rectangular components. You will
need a unit vector approach to
determine the force components.

MODELING and ANALYSIS:

The moment MA of the force F exerted
by the wire is obtained by evaluating
the vector product,

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 Problem 3.1

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 Problem 3.2
The frame ACD is hinged at A and D and is supported by a cable that passes through a
ring at B and is attached to hooks at G and H. Knowing that the tension in the cable is
450 N, determine the moment about the diagonal AD of the force exerted on the frame
by portion BH of the cable.

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 Problem 3.2

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 Scalar Products
• The scalar product or dot product between
two vectors P and Q is defined as

• Scalar products:
- are commutative,
- are distributive,
- are not associative,

• Scalar products with Cartesian unit components,

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 Applications of the Scalar Product

• Angle between two vectors:

• Projection of a vector on a given axis:

• For an axis defined by a unit vector:

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 Mixed Triple Products
• Mixed triple product of three vectors,

• The six mixed triple products formed from S, P, and

Q have equal magnitudes but not the same sign,

• Evaluating the mixed triple product,

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 Moment of a Force About a Given Axis

• Moment MO of a force F applied at the point A

about a point O,

• Scalar moment MOL about an axis OL is the

projection of the moment vector MO onto the
axis,

• Moments of F about the coordinate axes,

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 Sample Problem 3.5
A cube is acted on by a force P as shown. Determine the moment of P
a) about A
b) about the edge AB and
c) about the diagonal AG of the cube.
d) Determine the perpendicular distance
between AG and FC.

STRATEGY: Use the equations presented in this section to compute the

moments asked for. You can find the distance between AG and FC from the
expression for the moment MAG.

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 Sample Problem 3.5
a) Moment of P about A,
MODELING and
ANALYSIS:

• List an alternative to the position vector ,

and discuss your answer with a neighbor.
b) Moment of P about AB,

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 Sample Problem 3.5

c) Moment of P about the diagonal AG,

• What if, for , you had chosen instead?

How would that change the answer?

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 Sample Problem 3.5
d) Perpendicular distance between AG and FC,

Therefore, P is perpendicular to AG.

REFLECT and THINK: In a problem like this, it

is important to visualize the forces and moments in
three dimensions so you can choose the appropriate
equations for finding them and also recognize the
geometric relationships between them.

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 Moment of a Couple
• Two forces F and -F having the same magnitude,
parallel lines of action, and opposite sense are
said to form a couple.

• Moment of the couple,

• The moment vector of the couple is

independent of the choice of the origin of the
coordinate axes, i.e., it is a free vector that
can be applied at any point with the same
effect.

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 Moment of a Couple

Two couples will have equal moments if

•

• the two couples lie in parallel planes, and

• the two couples have the same sense or

the tendency to cause rotation in the same
direction.

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 Addition of Couples
• Consider two intersecting planes P1 and
P2 with each containing a couple

• Resultants of the vectors also form a

couple

• By Varignon’s theorem

• Sum of two couples is also a couple that is

equal to the vector sum of the two couples

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 Couple Vectors

• A couple can be represented by a vector with magnitude

and direction equal to the moment of the couple.

• Couple vectors obey the law of addition of vectors.

• Couple vectors are free vectors, i.e., there is no point of

application – it simply acts on the body.

• Couple vectors may be resolved into component vectors.

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Resolution of a Force Into a Force at O and a
Couple

• Force vector F can not be simply moved to O without modifying its

action on the body.
• Attaching equal and opposite force vectors at O produces no net
effect on the body.
• The three forces may be replaced by an equivalent force vector and
couple vector, i.e, a force-couple system.

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Resolution of a Force Into a Force at O and a
Couple

• Moving F from A to a different point O’ requires the

addition of a different couple vector MO’

• The moments of F about O and O’ are related,

• Moving the force-couple system from O to O’ requires the

addition of the moment of the force at O about O’.

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 Sample Problem 3.6
Determine the components of the single couple equivalent to the couples shown.

STRATEGY:

Look for ways to add equal and opposite

forces to the diagram that, along with
already known perpendicular distances, will
produce new couples with moments along
the coordinate axes. These can be combined
into a single equivalent couple.

MODELING:
Attach equal and opposite 20 lb forces in the
±x direction at A, thereby producing 3
couples for which the moment components
are easily computed.

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 Sample Problem 3.6

ANALYSIS:

You can represent these three couples by

three couple vectors Mx, My, and Mz
directed along the coordinate axes. The
corresponding moments are

3 - 41
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 Sample Problem 3.6

REFLECT and THINK:

You can also obtain the components of

the equivalent single couple M by
computing the sum of the moments of the
four given forces about an arbitrary
point. Selecting point D, the moment is

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 Reducing System of Forces to a Force-Couple
System

• A system of forces may be replaced by a collection of

force-couple systems acting at a given point O
• The force and couple vectors may be combined into a
resultant force vector and a resultant couple vector,

• The force-couple system at O may be moved to O’

with the addition of the moment of R about O’ ,

• Two systems of forces are equivalent if they can be

reduced to the same force-couple system.

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 Further Reduction of a System of Forces

• If the resultant force and couple at O are mutually

perpendicular, they can be replaced by a single
force acting along a new line of action.

• The resultant force-couple system for a system of

forces will be mutually perpendicular if:
1) the forces are concurrent,
2) the forces are coplanar, or
3) the forces are parallel.

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 Further Reduction of a System of Forces

• System of coplanar forces is reduced to a

force-couple system that is
mutually perpendicular.

• System can be reduced to a single force

by moving the line of action of until
its moment about O becomes

• In terms of rectangular coordinates,

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 Sample Problem 3.10
Three cables are attached to the bracket as shown. Replace the forces with an
equivalent force-couple system at A.

STRATEGY:
• Determine the relative position vectors
for the points of application of the
cable forces with respect to A.

• Resolve the forces into rectangular

components.

• Compute the equivalent force,

• Compute the equivalent couple,

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 Sample Problem 3.10
• Compute the equivalent force, • Compute the equivalent couple,

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 Acknowledgement

In this PowerPoint presentation, most of the slide has been made from the
lecture note of Ferdinand P. Beer. Russell Johnston, Jr. Special thanks to J. Walt
Oler (Texas Tech University ) for his valuable information about the
Equilibrium System of Forces.

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