EXPERIMENT NO.

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Equilibrium of Concurrent Forces: Vector Addition
Name: _NAROSA, RUEN VINCENT A.______________________ Group No.: _4__________
Year & Section: _1-9_________ Instructor’s Signature: ______________
I. Objective:
To study the equilibrium of a body under the action of concurrent forces and to use analytical
and graphical methods in the solution of problems in static.
II. Apparatus and Materials:

Force Table set (Complete with centering pin), cords, ring, pulleys, weight hangers with slotted
weights, small builder’s level, protractor, ruler, graphing paper

III. Theory:

A system of coplanar forces whose lines of action all pass through the same point is said to be a
concurrent force system. Such a system of forces may be replaced by a single force through the
same point, which would have the same effect or result as the force system.

Conversely, a concurrent force system can be exactly balanced by a single force. Such a
balancing force is called the equilibrant. Its line of action is also through the point of concurrence.
The resultant and the equilibrant of any concurrent system of forces are equal in magnitude and
have the same line of action, but they are oppositely directed. Figure 1 shows these relationships in
a vector diagram.

In this experiment concurrent force systems will be studied with the assistance of a force table
(see figure 2). Force (weights) of any desired magnitude may he attached to cords which run over
pulleys which can be any desired position around a 360° circle. The other ends of the cords are
attached to a small ring which is held in the center of the force table by a pin until equilibrium is
attained.

When the selection of directions and force magnitudes is such as to hold the ring in the center
without the presence of the centering pin, the system is in equilibrium. In this condition any one of
the forces can be considered as the equilibrant of the force system made up of the other forces.

Since the forces have both magnitude and direction, forces are vector quantities. Force
problems can therefore be solved by vector methods.

When only forces are involved, the resultant may be found either by the parallelogram method
(see fig. 3) or by the closed polygon method (fig. 4).
B R
P
θ A
E

Fig 1. Two coplanar forces A and B are concurrent at P, making angle BPA

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R is the resultant of A and B. E is the equilibrant. Note that E. is equal in magnitude but opposite in
direction to R.

Fig 2. The force table with centering pin, cords, pulleys, and weights attached.

Graphical Method:
● The parallelogram method of determining a resultant.
By constructing a parallelogram on two known force vectors are sides, the diagonal of the
parallelogram represents the resultant of the force system.
● The closed polygon method
If two forces are concurrent, their resultant may be found by connecting their vectors “heel-
and – toe” or “head-to-tail”. The vector which closes the triangle represents the resultant.

Analytical Method:

● The magnitude of the two coplanar concurrent forces may also be expressed (analytically) in
terms of the two given forces and the angle between them using the formula
(Trigonometric Method)

R2 = A2 + B2 – 2AB cos � ( eq 1)

● The analytical method of solving for the resultant of a coplanar concurrent force system
makes use of the method of resolving forces into their horizontal and vertical components,
and then adding these components with proper regard to algebraic signs (Component
Method).

Let �� represents the algebraic sum of all the horizontal components of the forces in
a concurrent force system, and �� represent the algebraic sum of all the vertical
components. Then

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 �� = �1� + �2� + �3� + . . . . . . . + ���

�� = �1� + �2� + �3� + . . . . . . + ���

The magnitude of the resultant is:

R2 = ( �� ) 2 + ( �� )2 ( eq 2 )

And the angle which it makes with the horizontal ( x- axis ) is given by:

��
�� = ���−1 ( eq 3 )
��

Procedure:

1. Set up the force table, level it carefully, and arrange two rather large forces, not equal and not
forming a right angle. These should be set up with the centering pin in place. Now adjust a third
force, as to both magnitude and direction, which will bring the force system exactly into
equilibrium. Record the direction and magnitude of the two original forces and of the
equilibrant. (The resultant is equal in magnitude to the equilibrant but opposite in direction).

2. In a second trial, set up another three forces of unequal magnitudes and not forming equal
angles or right angles, and determine a fourth force which will render the system in equilibrium.
Record all data in a table.

3. Draw a vector diagram of the actual forces as set on the force table in Procedure I. Then solve
for the resultant by the parallelogram method. This second drawing should be a large neat
drawing to scale, on a sheet of cross-sectional paper. Then solve for the resultant analytically by
Eq. 1. Next, solve for equilibrant by the closed polygon method. Make an accurate vector
diagram on the same cross-sectional paper.

Compare the results with the actual experimental values obtained from the force table.

4. Draw a vector and the equilibrant diagram of the actual forces as set on the force table in
procedure no. 2. Then solve by the closed polygon method for the resultant and the equilibrant.

Finally, solve for the resultant (magnitude and direction) of the three forces by the
component method. Compare the results with the actual experimental values obtained from the
force table.

a. Get your experimental data from this link (Experiment: Addition of 2 and 3 vectors using
Force table):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-afmQUEG9BQ

Discussion Videos:

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Vector Addition Using Graphical Method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RWg_vtryek&t=38s
Analytical Method (Analytic Method): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv8iqD-YW2Y
Analytical Method (Component Method): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQk37X_BOco

IV. Data and Result:

Table 1. Data from youtube video for part A

Force m (kg) m x g (N) � (deg)

FA 0.150 1.47 0.0

FB 0.200 1.96 90.0

Table 2. Experimental and Calculated data of the magnitude of the concurrent forces in Part A
GRAPHICAL ANALYTICAL
DATA 1 EXPERIMENTAL
PARALLELOGRAM TRIGONOMETRIC

Vector 1 1.47 N 1.47 N 0.0 ° 1.47 N 0.0 °

Vector 2 1.96 N 1.96 N 90.0 ° 1.96 N 90.0 °

Resultant ------------- 2.45 N 45.0 ° 2.45 N 45.0 °

Equilibrant ------------- 2.45 N 225 ° 2.45 N 225 °

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Screenshot/photo from the graphical method-Parallelogram (Drawn using graphing paper):

Computations for analytical method-Trigonometric:

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Table 3. Data from youtube video for part B
Force m (kg) m x g (N) � (deg)

FA 0.150 1.47 30.0

FB 0.200 1.96 135.0

FC 0.100 0.981 180.0

Table 4. Experimental and Calculated data of the magnitude of the concurrent forces in Part B
ANALYTICAL
GRAPHICAL
DATA 2 EXPERIMENTAL COMPONENT
POLYGON METHOD
METHOD

Vector 1 1.47 N 1.47 N 30.0 ° 1.47 N 30.0 °

Vector 2 1.96 N 1.96 N 135 ° 1.96 N 135 °

Vector 3 0.981 N 0.981 N 180 ° 0.981 N 180 °

Resultant ---------- 2.36 N 117 ° 2.39 N 117 °

Equilibrant ---------- 2.36 N 117 ° 2.39 N 117 °

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Screenshot/photo from the graphical -Polygon method (Drawn using graphing paper):

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 Computations for analytical method (Component Method):

V. Questions:

1. List three practical examples from industry in which coplanar concurrent forces in equilibrium
are involved. Why is the study of forces in equilibrium involved?

The operation of a table saw, during the constant-velocity cutting of a sheet of plywood against a fence.

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The operation of a construction crane, during constant-velocity vertical lifting of a load.
The binding of a load on a transport truck, using a ratchet strap.

2. Why is the study of forces in equilibrium (static) so important to construction engineering?

An object in static equilibrium is immobile because all of the forces operating on it balance each
other out. Because these structures must maintain static equilibrium under all expected stress
circumstances, static equilibrium is an important concept in the design of many rigid structures,
ranging from a house's floor system to a massive suspension bridge.

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3. By means of a simple sketch, show how coplanar concurrent forces are involved in bridge
trusses and roof trusses.

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VI. Analysis of Data:

As directed, data was obtained from the YouTube video. The YouTube video includes two sets of
experiments involving a force table and varied number of weights. The first pair has three weights
attached, whereas the second has four weights, representing parts A and B of the experiment. Tables 1
and 3 include tabular data from the video.

The masses and angles from the positive x-axis of the two coupled weights are shown in Table 1. Table 3
gives information about the three associated weights. The mass is multiplied by the local gravitational
acceleration, which we assume to be 9.81 m/s2. The goal of this experiment is to investigate how a
specific body, in this example, the force table set, comes into equilibrium or does not move in the
presence of concurrent forces. Because determining the mass of equilibrant or the third or fourth
attached weights is nearly impossible, the data was deleted from this presentation. Instead, we may
solve for both equilibrant and resultant forces using analytical and graphical methods. Table 2 shows
that the resultant and equilibrant forces can be calculated using a parallelogram and trigonometry.

Table 4 indicates that the values of resultant and equilibrant forces will vary when utilizing the closed
polygon approach and the component method. This is due to the fact that the closed polygon approach
is prone to practically every sort of mistake. However, if preparations are sufficient, two approaches
may yield roughly the same value.

VII. Conclusion:

It is constantly demonstrated in the computations that the angle of the resultant force will be within the
angles of the separate forces. Furthermore, in equilibrium systems, which are static or not moving, the
resultant force of each individual force and the equilibrant force are equal in size and in opposing
directions.

As demonstrated in the experiment, unless modified for angular position or weight mass, the ring will
remain in the middle of the pin. This demonstrates that if a system is in equilibrium, it will remain so
unless some external force acts on it. Both of these examples emphasize Newton's laws of motion. As a
result, in nature, the equilibrium of concurrent forces obeys Newton's law of motion.