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Engineering Mechanics/Applied
Mechanics
Lecture 5

Engr. Danish Saeed

Lecturer
Department of Civil Engineering
KFUEIT, RYK

Rectangular components of a force vector

 In many problems it will be found desirable to resolve a force into
two components which are perpendicular to each other.
 In Figure 5-1,the force F has been resolved into a component Fx
along the x axis and a component Fy along the y axis.

Figure 5-1

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Rectangular components of a force vector

 The parallelogram drawn to obtain the two components is a rectangle,
and Fx and Fy are called rectangular components.
 The x and y axes are usually chosen horizontal and vertical,
respectively, they may, however, be chosen in any two perpendicular
directions.

Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

 Scalar Notation.
 The rectangular components of force F shown in figure 5-2a are found
using the parallelogram law, so that F = Fx + Fy.
 Because these components form a right triangle, they can be
determined from

Figure 5-2a

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Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

 Instead of using the angle θ, however, the direction of F can also be
defined using a small “slope” triangle, as in the example shown in
Fig. 5-2b.
 Since this triangle and the larger shaded triangle are similar,
the proportional length of the sides gives

Figure 5-2b

Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

 Similarly

Figure 5-2b

 Here the y component is a negative scalar since Fy is directed along the

negative y axis.

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Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

 CartesianVector Notation.
 It is also possible to represent the x and y components of a force in
terms of Cartesian unit vectors i and j as shown in figure 5-3a.

Figure 5-3a

Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

 They are called unit vectors because they have a dimensionless
magnitude of 1.
 They can be used to designate the directions of the x and y axes
respectively
 Since the magnitude of each component of F is always a positive
quantity, which is represented by the (positive) scalars Fx and Fy, then
we can express F as a Cartesian vector,

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Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 These methods can be used to find the resultant of several coplanar
forces.
 Coplanar forces are those forces that all lie in the same plane.
 Each force is resolved into x and y components.
 Then the respective components are added using scalar algebra since
they are collinear.
 The resultant force is then formed by adding the resultant components
using the parallelogram law

Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 For example, consider the three concurrent forces in figure 5-4a.
 Each force is resolved into x and y components shown in figure 5-4b.

Figure 5-4a Figure 5-4b

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Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 Using Cartesian vector notation, each force is first represented as a
Cartesian vector, i.e.,

Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 The vector resultant is therefore;

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Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 If scalar notation is used, then indicating the positive directions of
components along the x and y axes with symbolic arrows, we have;

Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 The components of the resultant force of any number of coplanar
forces can be represented symbolically by the algebraic sum of the x
and y components of all the forces, i.e.,

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Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 Once these components are determined, they may be sketched along
the x and y axes with their proper sense of direction, and the resultant
force can be determined from vector addition, as shown in figure 5-3c

Figure 5-3c

Resultant of a System of Coplanar Forces

 From this sketch, the magnitude of FR is then found from the
Pythagorean theorem; that is,

 the angle u, which specifies the direction of the resultant force, is

determined from trigonometry:

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Reference Books
Book Title (Edition) Author Chapter/Topic Number

Engineering Mechanics – R. C. Hibbler Chapter 2

Statics & Dynamics (14th) Topics 2.4
Examples 2.5 to 2.7
Problems 2.32 to 2.59
Vector Mechanics for Ferdinand P. Beer, Chapter 2
Engineers - Statics and E. Russell Johnston, Jr, Topics 2.7, 2.8
Dynamics (10th) Phillip J. Cornwell Examples 2.3
Problems 2.21 to 2.42

Example 1
 Determine the x and y
components of F1 and F2 acting on
the boom shown in Fig. 5-4a.
Express each force as a Cartesian
vector.

Figure 5-4a

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Example 1
 Solution:
 Scaler Notation:
 By the parallelogram law, F1 is resolved into x and y components, as
figure 5-4b

Figure 5-4b

Example 1
 Since F1x acts in the -x direction, and F1y acts in the +y direction, we
have

Figure 5-4b

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Example 1
 The force F2 is resolved into its x
and y components, as shown in
Fig. 5-4c.
 From this “slope triangle” we
could obtain the angle θ.

Figure 5-4c

Example 1
 The easier method, however,
consists of using proportional
parts of similar triangles, i.e.,

 Similarly;

Figure 5-4c

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Example 1
 CartesianVector notation.

Example 2
 The link in Fig. 5-5a is subjected to two forces F1 and F2. Determine
the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.

Figure 5-5a

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Example 2
 Solution I:
 Scalar notation.
 First we resolve each force into its x and y components, Fig. 5-5b, then
we sum these components algebraically.

Figure 5-5b

Example 2
 The resultant components are sketched as
shown in figure 5-5c
 Magnitude of resultant FR can be
calculated as;

Figure 5-5b

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Example 2
 Solution II:
 CartesianVector notation.
 From Fig. 5-5b, each force is first expressed as a Cartesian vector.

Figure 5-5b

Example 3
 The end of the boom O in Fig. 5-6a is subjected to three concurrent
and coplanar forces. Determine the magnitude and direction of the
resultant force.

Figure 5-6a

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Example 3
 Each force is resolved into its x and y components, Fig. 5-6b.
 Summing the x components, we have;

Figure 5-6b

Example 3
 Summing the y components yields;

Figure 5-6b

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Example 3
 The magnitude of resultant force shown in figure 5-6c can be
calculated as;

Figure 5-6c

Assignment Problems
 Q 5-1: Determine the magnitude of the resultant force acting on the
corbel and its direction θ measured counterclockwise from the x axis.

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Assignment Problems
 Q 5-2: Determine the magnitude of the resultant force and its
direction measured counterclockwise from the positive x axis.

Assignment Problems
 Q 5-3: Determine the magnitude of the resultant force and its
direction, measured counterclockwise from the positive x axis.

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