LECTURE 3

Force Vector
Scalars and Vectors
• All physical quantities in engineering mechanics are
measured using scalars or vectors.

• Scalar – any positive or negative physical quantity that

can be completely specified by its magnitude.
• Length, mass, and time

• Vector – any physical quantity that requires both

magnitude and a direction.
• Force, position, moment.
Vector Operations
• Multiplication and Division of a Vector by 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.
Vector Operations
• Vector Addition:
• All quantity obey the parallelogram law of addition.

• To illustrate:
a) Join the tail.
b) Draw a parallel line on both line  intersect to point P.
c) Forms R, where R = A + B
Vector Operations
• Vector Addition:
• Add B to A, using a triangle rule.
• Vector B is added to vector A in a “head to tail” fashion.
• Resultant (R) extend from tail A to the head B, where R = A + B
Vector Addition of Forces
• Finding a Resultant Force:
• The two component forces F1 and F2 acting on a pin can be added
together to form the resultant force FR = F1 + F2.

• From this construction, or using the triangle rule, we can apply the
law of cosines or the law of sines to the triangle in order to obtain
the magnitude of the resultant force and its direction.
Vector Addition of Forces
• Finding the Components of a Force:
• Sometime it is necessary to resolve a force into two
components in order to study the pulling or pushing
effect in two specific directions.

• To illustrate:
• A parallelogram is constructed first., by drawing lines
starting from the tip of F.
• The force Fu and Fv are then established by simply joining
the tail of F to the intersection points on the u and v axis.
• This parallelogram can then be reduced to a triangle,
which represent the triangle rule.
Vector Addition of Forces
• Addition of Several Forces.
• If more than 2 forces are to be added. Successive applications of
the parallelogram law can be carried out in order to obtain the
resultant force.
Summary
• Parallelogram Law
• Two components forces F1 and F2 can be add
according to the parallelogram law, yielding forces FR.

• If a force F is to be resolved into components along

two axes u and v, then start at the head of force F
and constrict lines parallel to the axes, forming the
parallelogram. The sides of the parallelograms
represent the component Fu and Fv.

• Trigonometry
• Redraw a half portion of the parallelogram to illustrate
the triangular head-to-tail addition of the components.

• From this triangle, the magnitude and direction of the

resultant force can be determined using the law of
cosines and law of sines.
Example 1
• The screw eye is subjected to two forces F1 and F2.
Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant
force.
Example 2
• If θ = 60 degree and F = 450 N, determine the magnitude
of the resultant force and its direction, measured
counterclockwise from the positive x axis.
Example 3
• If the magnitude of the resultant force is to be 500 N,
directed along the positive y axis, determine the
magnitude of force F and its direction θ.