Lecture 8: Moments

Department of Civil and

Environmental Engineering

Moments
(part 1)

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moments
Objectives:

a) Compute the moment of a force about a point

b) Compute the moment of a force about a specific

axis

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

Moment of a Force
• The moment of a force is a measure of its rotational
effect

• The moment of a force about a point provides a

measure of the tendency for rotation about a point
or axis

• This tendency for rotation is sometimes called a

torque

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

Moment of a Force
• For example, consider the
moment induced by a
wrench with a force
applied as shown

• The force Fx will cause the

pipe to rotate about the z
axis, perpendicular to the
plane containing both Fx
and dy

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force
• Moments in 3-D can be calculated using a 2-D scalar
approach, but it can be difficult and time consuming

• Often it is easier to make use of the cross product to

calculate moments in 3-D

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

Moment of a Force About a Point

Using the cross product the
moment of force F about
point O, or an axis passing
through O and perpendicular
to the plane containing O and
F can be calculated as

MO  r  F
where r is a position vector from O to any point on the line
of action of F

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force About a Point
• Using the definition of the cross product, in Cartesian
vector form this can be written as

i j k (r y Fz r z Fy )i
 
r  F   rx ry rz    (r x Fz  r z Fx ) j
 Fx Fy Fz   (r x Fy r y Fx )k


Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

Moment of a Force About a Point

• Note that since the length of the moment arm, which

is given by d  r sin  ,

is constant, r can extend from the point O to any

point along the line of action of F
Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force About a Point

• r can extend from the point O to any point along the

line of action of F

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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Moment of a Force About a Point

• Finally, since r × F ≠ F × r, it is important to make
sure that you use r × F to obtain the correct sense of
MO

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Resultant Moment of a System of
Forces

• The resultant moment of a system of forces can be

found as
M RO   (r  F )

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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Example Problem – 4-32*

If 𝐅 50 ̂ 60 ̂ 30𝒌 lb,
determine:
1) Magnitude of the moment
of the force F about point A.
2) The coordinate direction
angles of the moment of
the force F about point A.

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force About an Axis

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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Moment of a Force About an Axis

Sometimes we want to find
the component of the moment
due to a force F about an
arbitrary axis.

To find the component of the

moment due to force F about
axis aa’, first find the moment
due to force F about any point
O lying on the axis aa’.

MO  r  F
Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force About an Axis
Then take the dot product of
this moment with a unit
vector describing the
orientation of axis aa’.

M a  MO  ua

where ua is a unit vector

specifying the direction of the
aa’ axis

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Moment of a Force About an Axis

• Ma can also be obtained as

ua x ua y ua z
M a  ua  (r  F)  rx ry rz
Fx Fy Fz

• The above equation is also called the triple scalar

product

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Moment of a Force About an Axis
• In this equation:

uax, uay, uaz are the components of the unit vector

defining the direction of the aa’ axis

rx, ry, rz are the components of the position vector

from any point on the aa’ axis to any point on the line
of action of the force

Fx, Fy, Fz are the components of the force vector

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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Moment of a Force about an Axis

• When Ma is evaluated it will yield a positive or
negative scalar

• The sign of this scalar indicates the sense of

direction of Ma along the aa’ axis

• If it is positive then Ma will have the same sense as

ua, whereas if it is negative, then Ma will act opposite
to ua

• Expressing Ma as a Cartesian vector: M a  M a u a

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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 Example Problem – 4-53
Determine the moment
of the force F about an
axis extending between
points O and A. Express
the result as a Cartesian
vector.

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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Lecture Recap
• Read Chapter 4 in Hibbeler

• Sections 4.1, 4.3, 4.5

• Work through examples in
the text
• Examples 4.1-4.9

Lecture 8: Moments (part 1)

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