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Force Vectors

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11 views17 pages

Force Vectors

Uploaded by

marwan.abdlrwaf
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Force Vectors

1. Scalars and Vectors

• Scalars: Quantities described by magnitude only (e.g., mass, temperature).


• Vectors: Quantities with both magnitude and direction (e.g., force,
velocity).

Vector Representation:

• Represented graphically by an arrow.


o Length: Represents magnitude of the vector
o Direction: the angle 𝜽 between the vector and a fixed axis
2. Vector Operations

2.1 Multiplication and Division of a Vector by a Scalar

If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its magnitude is increased by that


amount. Multiplying by a negative scalar will also change the directional sense of
the vector. Graphic examples of these operations are shown in Fig. 2.

2.2 Addition of Vectors:

• Graphical Method: Place vectors tip-to-tail and draw the resultant vector.
• Analytical Method: Add corresponding components.

The parallelogram law.

To illustrate, the two component vectors A and B in Fig. 3a are added to form a
resultant vector R = A + B using the following procedure: using the following
procedure:
• First join the tails of the components at a point to make them concurrent,
Fig. 3b.
• From the head of B, draw a line parallel to A. Draw another line from the
head of A that is parallel to B. These two lines intersect at point P to form
the adjacent sides of a parallelogram.
• The diagonal of this parallelogram that extends to P forms R, which then
represents the resultant vector R = A + B, Fig. 3c

The triangle rule

• which is a special case of the parallelogram law,Fig.4a.


• whereby vector B is added to vector A in a “head-to-tail”
• connecting the head of A to the tail of B, Fig. 4b.
• The resultant R extends from the tail of A to the head of B.
• In a similar manner, R can also be obtained by adding A to B, Fig.4c. R = A
+ B = B + A.
If the two vectors A and B are collinear, i.e., both have the same line of action, the
parallelogram law reduces to an algebraic or scalar addition R = A + B, as shown
in Fig. 5.

2.3 Subtraction of Vectors:

Reverse the direction of the vector being subtracted, then add it to the first vector
see Fig 6. The resultant of the difference between two vectors A and B of the same
type may be expressed as :

R’ = A - B = A + (-B)
3. Vector Addition of Forces

3.1 Finding a Resultant Force.

The two component forces F1 and F2 acting on the pin in Fig. 7a can be added
together to form the resultant force FR = F1 + F2, as shown in Fig. 7b. From this
construction, or using the triangle rule, Fig.7c .

3.2 Finding the Components of a Force

To resolve a force F into two components along the u- and v-axes:

1. Construct a Parallelogram: Draw lines from the tip of F parallel to the u-


and v-axes, forming a parallelogram.
2. Determine Components: The intersections of these lines with the axes
define the components Fu and Fv, which are the projections of F along the
axes.
3. Apply the Triangle Rule: The parallelogram can be reduced to a triangle.
4. Use the Law of Sines: Apply the law of sines to the triangle to calculate the
magnitudes of Fu and Fv see Fig 8.
3.3 Addition of Several Forces

• Adding More Than Two Forces: Use successive applications of the


parallelogram law to find the resultant force.
• Example: To find the resultant of three forces F1, F2, and F3 at point O, first
add F1 and F2 to get a resultant, then add this to F3: FR=(F1+F2)+F3.
• Complexity: The parallelogram law requires extensive geometric and
trigonometric calculations for magnitude and direction see Fig 9.
• Alternative Method: The "rectangular-component method" offers a
simpler way to solve such problems, explained in Section 3.4.
Example 1 :
Example 2:
Example 3 :
Problems :
3.4 Addition of a System of Coplanar Forces

3.4.1 Scalar Notation. The rectangular components of force F shown in Fig. 10a-b
are found using the parallelogram law, so that F = Fx + Fy. Because these
components form a right triangle, they can be determined from

Or:

3.4.2 Cartesian Vector Notation. The x- and y-components of a force can be


represented using Cartesian unit vectors i and j, which have a magnitude of 1 and
indicate the directions of the x- and y-axes. The force F can be expressed as a
Cartesian vector see Fig 11.
Where Fx and Fy are the magnitudes of the force components along the x and y
axes.

3.4.3 Coplanar Force Resultants.


We can represent the components of the resultant force of any number of coplanar
forces symbolically by the algebraic sum of the x and y components of all the
forces, i.e. as Fig.13c.

The magnitude of FR is then found from the Pythagorean theorem; that is,

Also, the angle 𝜽 which specifies the direction of the resultant force, is
Example 4:
Example 5:
Example 6:

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