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Mechanics 1
EE1MEC
Lecture 3
FORCE SYSTEMS
Dr. Khalid Anwar
[email protected]
Room 606
Tel: 2464-5(455)
Refresh for the resultant force
Geometric solution

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Refresh for the resultant force
Geometric solution

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Representation of a force
According to standard vector notation, a force is denoted by a boldfaced letter,
for example by F, and its magnitude by |F| or simply by F.
In figures, a force is represented by an arrow, as shown in Fig.

In Cartesian coordinates, the force vector can be represented

using the unit vectors ex, ey, ez
by
F = Fx + Fy + Fz = Fx ex + Fy ey + Fz ez .

Applying Pythagoras’ theorem in space, the force vector’s

magnitude
F is given by
𝐹= 𝐹𝑥2 + 𝐹𝑦2 + 𝐹𝑧2

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 POSITION VECTORS
x, y, z Coordinates. Position Vector

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FORCE VECTOR DIRECTED
ALONG A LINE

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External and Internal Effects
We can separate the action of a force on a body into two effects, external and
internal.
The effects of P internal to the bracket are the resulting internal forces and
deformations distributed throughout the material of the bracket.
The relation between internal forces and internal deformations depends on the
material properties of the body and is studied in strength of materials, elasticity, and
plasticity.

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 Principle of Transmissibility
The principle of transmissibility : It states that a force may be applied at any
point on its given line of action without altering the resultant effects of the
force external to the rigid body on which it acts.

For example, the force P acting on the rigid plate in Figure may
be applied at A or at B or at any other point on its line of action,
and the net external effects of P on the bracket will not change..

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Force Classification
➢ A contact force is produced by direct physical contact; an example is the force exerted on a
body by a supporting surface.
➢ A body force is generated by virtue of the position of a body within a force field such as a
gravitational, electric, or magnetic field. An example of a body force is your weight.
➢ Forces may be further classified as either concentrated or distributed.
➢ two concurrent forces lie in the same plane but are applied at two different points. By the
principle of transmissibility, we may move them along their lines of action and complete their
vector sum R at the point of concurrency

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 Two-dimensional Force Systems
where the scalars Fx and Fy are the x and y
scalar components of the vector F.
The scalar components can be positive or
negative, depending on the quadrant into
which F points.

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SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
The forces F1, F2, and F3, all of which act on point A of the bracket, are specified in
three different ways. Determine the x and y scalar components of each of the three
forces

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1
Solution
The scalar components of F3 can be obtained by first
The scalar components of F1, from Fig. a, computing the angle α of Fig. c
are

Then

The scalar components of F2, from Fig. b, are

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Graphical solution.

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Geometric solution

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SAMPLE PROBLEM 2
Forces F1 and F2 act on the bracket as shown. Determine the projection Fb of their
resultant R onto the b-axis.

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SAMPLE PROBLEM 2
Solution
The parallelogram addition of F1 and F2 is shown in the figure. Using the law of cosines
gives us

The figure also shows the orthogonal projection Fb of R onto the b-axis. Its length is

Note that the components of a vector are in general not equal to the projections of the vector
onto the same axes. If the a-axis had been perpendicular to the b-axis, then the projections and
components of R would have been equal.

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EXAMPLE

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 Moment
❖ In addition to the tendency to move a body in the direction of its application, a force can also tend
to rotate a body about an axis.
❖ The axis may be any line which neither intersects nor is parallel to the line of action of the force.
❖ This rotational tendency is known as the moment M of the force. Moment is also referred to as
torque.
As a familiar example of the concept of moment, consider the pipe
wrench of Figure shown. One effect of the force applied perpendicular
to the handle of the wrench is the tendency to rotate the pipe about
its vertical axis.

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 Magnitude of the moment
The moment is proportional both to the magnitude of the
force and to the moment arm d, which is the perpendicular
distance from the axis to the line of action of the force.

In a 2-D case, the magnitude of the moment is Mo= Fd

Where,
M= Moment of the force F about a point of line
F= the force applied on the body
d= distance between the line of action of force and the axis of
rotation (perpendicular distance)

As shown, d is the perpendicular distance from point O to the line of action of

the force.

In2-D, the direction of MO is either clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise

(CCW), depending on the tendency for rotation.

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Moment- A Vector Quantity

❖ The moment is a vector M perpendicular to the plane of the body.

❖ The sense of M depends on the direction in which F tends to rotate the
body.
❖ The right-hand rule is used to identify this sense as shown in figure.
❖ We represent the moment of F about O-O as a vector pointing in the
direction of the thumb, with the fingers curled in the direction of the
rotational tendency.

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Varignon’s Theorem
One of the most useful principles of mechanics is Varignon’s theorem, which states
that the moment of a force about any point is equal to the sum of the moments of the
components of the force about the same point. To prove this theorem, consider the
force R acting in the plane of the body. The forces P and Q represent any two non-
rectangular components of R. The moment of R about point O is

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM
Calculate the magnitude of the moment about the base point O of the 600-N force in
five different ways
(I) The moment arm to the 600-N force is

By M = Fd the moment is clockwise and has the magnitude

(II) Replace the force by its rectangular components at A

By Varignon’s theorem, the moment becomes

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 SAMPLE PROBLEM

(III) By the principle of transmissibility, move the 600-N force along its
line of action to point B, which eliminates the moment of the component
F2. The moment arm of F1 becomes

and the moment is

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DOT PRODUCT

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 CROSS PRODUCT
Magnitude.

Vector C has a direction that is perpendicular to the plane containing A and B

Direction.
such that the directional sense of C is specified by the right-hand rule;

Cartesian Vector Formulation

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 MOMENT OF A FORCE—
VECTOR FORMULATION

Cartesian Vector Formulation

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The moment is therefore

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MOMENT OF A FORCE ABOUT
A SPECIFIED AXIS

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