FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

CHAPTER 3.0: FORCE

At the end of this topic, students should be able to:

 define force and its units.
 state the effect of force.
 differentiate between weight and mass.
 define Newton’s Second Law
 define forces in equilibrium.
 calculate resultant force using resolution method.
 apply the concept of force in solving problems related to
equilibrium of forces.
 define moment of force and its unit.
 apply the concept and formula of moment of force in solving
the related problems

3.1 The Concept Of Force

Force and its units

1) Force can be defined as a push or a pull.

2) A force will cause an object with mass to accelerate.
3) Force is measured by N (Newton).
4) A force is a vector quantity.
5) A newton meter is used to measure force.

Balanced Forces on an Object

1) When all the forces acting on an object are balanced, they cancel out one another and
the net force or resultant force is zero. The object behaves as if there is no force acting
on it.
2) Therefore, a stationary object will remain stationary and a moving object will continue
moving with the same velocity in a straight line.
3) Examples of balanced forces:
 The weight of the car is balanced by the reaction from the ground acting upwards on
the car at the tyres. The net force acting on the car is zero.
 Forces acting on an aeroplane causing it to move at constant velocity are balanced
forces. The lift force is equal to the weight of the aeroplane and the forward thrust is
equal to the drag. The net force acting on the aeroplane is zero.

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 34

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Unbalanced Forces on an Object

1) When the forces acting on an object are not balanced, there will be net force acting on
it.
2) This net force is known as the unbalanced force or the resultant force.
3) So, unbalanced forces cause a stationary object to move or moving object to accelerate.
4) For example, when a football player kicks a stationary football, a force acts on the ball
and causes it to move forward.

Effects of force on an object

When a force acts an object, the effects are on:

 change of size
 change of shape
 change of stationary state
 change of speed
 change of direction

Weight and mass

Mass and weight are different in physics.

For example, your mass doesn't change when you go to the Moon, but your weight does.

Mass Weight

Definition: quantity of matter in a Definition: The force with which a

body. body is attracted towards the center of
the earth by the gravity.
Scalar quantity. Vector quantity.
Base quantity. Derived quantity.
SI unit: kilogram (kg) SI unit: Newton (N)
Its value is constant everywhere. Its value changes with gravitational
field strength, W=mg

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 35

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Example 1
The gravitational field strength of the earth is 9.8 Nkg-1 and the gravitational field strength of the
moon is 1.6 Nkg-1. If a man weighs 130N on the moon, what is his weight on the earth?
Answer
On the moon,
( )

On the earth,
( )( )

Newton’s Second Law, F = ma

Newton’s Second Law states that when the net force acting on an object is not zero, the object
will accelerate at the direction of the exerted force. The acceleration is directly proportional to
the net force and inversely proportional to the mass. It can be expressed in formula F = ma
where:

𝐅
𝐚
𝐦
 F is the net force in N,
 m is the mass of an object in kg
and
 a is its acceleration in m/s2.

Example 2
Razif's car, which weighs 1,000 kg, is out of petrol. Razif is trying to push the car to a petrol
station, and he makes the car go 0.05 m/s2. Using Newton's Second Law, you can compute how
much force Razif is applying to the car.

Answer

( )( )

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 36

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Example 3
Two forces of 6 N and 3 N act upon an object in opposite directions. What would be the
acceleration of this object if it has a mass of 100 kg?

Answer

( )

Example 4

How much force was required to make a 2000kg car accelerate at 5m/s2?
Answer

( )( )

Example 5

A person throws a baseball at an acceleration of 25m/s2 with 12.5N of Force. What’s the mass of
the ball?
Answer

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 37

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Force in Equilibrium

a) The resultant force, R acting on the object is zero.

b) ∑Fy = 0 , Forces acting upward (∑F )= forces acting downward(∑F )
c) ∑Fx = 0 , Forces acting on the right (∑F )= forces acting on the left(∑F )

For equilibrium, 𝐅𝐗 𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐲 𝟎

Resultant force, (𝐅𝐗 )𝟐 + (𝐅𝐘 )𝟐 = 0

Simple Breakdown of Forces

You can break down forces into several components easily. For example, the force F1 can be
broken into two forces: Fx and Fy.

The following formulas are true: Fx= F1*cos A

Fy = F1*sin A

Magnitude of F1 = (𝐅𝐗 )𝟐 + (𝐅𝐘 )𝟐

𝟏 𝑭𝒚
Direction angle of F1 is 𝑨 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑭𝒙
Notes:

cos , cos
sin , sin
Example 6

The figure below shows three forces acting on a block. Calculate the resultant force.
4N
5N
1N

Answer

Fx  (4 cos 0 0 )  (5 cos 0 0 )  (1cos 0 0 ) Fy  (4 sin 0 0 )  (5 sin 0 0 )  (1sin 0 0 )

Fx  (4  5  1) N Fy  0 N
Fx  8N
Resultant force = (8) 2  (0) 2 = 8 N to the right

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 38

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Example 7

Determine the magnitude and direction of resultant force produced from the system of forces
below by using the resolution method.

15kN

600

450
700
30kN

25kN

Force (kN) Direction Component of FX (kN) Component of Fy (kN)

15 600 -15cos 600 = -7.5 15sin 600 = 12.99

25 450 25cos 450 = 17.68 25sin 450 = 17.68
30 200 30cos20 = 28.19 -30sin 20 = 12.99
Ʃ FX = 38.37 Ʃ Fy = 20.41
The magnitude of resultant force is
FR  ( ) + ( )
FR  (38.37)2  (20.41)2
FR  43.46kN
Direction of The angle of resultant force
n ( )
20.41
  tan 1 ( )
38.37
  28.01o

Example 8
From Figure below, calculate FA and FB if the system in equilibrium

FA
0
32
FB

2.5 kN

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 39

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Answer

FA cos 320+ (- FB cos 00)+(2.5k cos 900)= 0  0.85 FA - FB + 0 = 0  0.85 FA = FB

FA sin 320+FB sin 00- 2.5k sin 900 =0 0.53 FA+0- 2500=0  FA= (2500/0.53)

 FA = 4717 N

0.85 FA = FB  FB = 0.85(4717)  =4009 N

3.2 The Concept of Moment of Forces

 The moments of the force is the tendency of force to toist or rotate an object.
 Moments may cause objects to rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise.

MOMENT = FORCE X DISTANCE or M=Fxd

Unit : Nm

 Moments principal state that for equilibrium, the sum of the clockwise moments equals
the sum of the counter-clockwise moments, and the sum of the forces up equals the sum
of the forces down.

 Moments =  Moments AND  Force =  Force

 A child's seesaw, shown in, is an example of static equilibrium. An object in static

equilibrium is one that has no acceleration in any direction. While there might be
motion, such motion is constant.

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 40

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Example 9
An 80-N force acts at the end of a 12-cm wrench as shown. Find the moment.

Answer
Moment =

Moment = ( )( )

Example 10
A weight of 10 N is placed on a model See-Saw a distance of 30 cm from the pivot. Where a
weight of 20 N should be placed to balance the See-Saw?

Answer
 Moments (clockwise) =  Moments (anticlockwise)
( )= ( )

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 41

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Centre of Gravitational for Equilibrium

Example 1:

Find the centre of gravitational ( x ).

i) Moment of force Method

MCLOCKWISE MCOUNTERCLOCKWISE

x+ (x − ) ( − x)

x+ x− − x

𝐱 𝟑 𝟓𝟕𝐦
ii) Resultant Moment of Force Method

Resultant moment force = Total moment force acting

( )+ ( )+ ( + )
𝑥
A + +

𝒙 𝟑 𝟓𝟕 𝒎

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 42

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Example 2:

Based on Figure below, determine the point the beam must be supported from A so it will remain
in equilibrium.
4 kN 5 kN 9 kN
6 kN

A B

2m 2.5 m 1.5 m
Answer

6k (0)  4k (2)  5k (4.5)  9k (6)

x=
6k  4k  5k  9k

84.5k
x=
24

x = 3.52m from A.

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 43

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Tutorial (The equilibrium of forces)

1. The force A has magnitude of 7.25 N. Find the component s for direction angles of
a) Ө = 5.00°
b) Ө = 125°
c) Ө = 245°
d) Ө = 340.0°

2. Find the resultant force for the following:

5N
(a) (b) 12N 5N

12N

3. Find the component of forces for the following:

c)

4. Find the total forces that act on the R point

12N

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 44

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

5. Find the resultant of forces for the following:

6.

Two horizontal forces of 300N each act on a 20kg

object as shown in Figure 3. If the angle between
the two forces is 60o, the object will move with an
acceleration of?
Figure 3

7. Calculate the resultant force and the direction for Figure 1.

12N
15N

700
300

500 5N

20 N

Figure 1

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 45

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Tutorial (Moment of forces)

1. What is the moment on a bolt if you are pulling with a force of 200 N directed perpendicular
to a wrench of length 25 cm? How does the moment change for a wrench of twice the length?

2. Find the center of gravitational (x) for the following:

a.

b.

3. Calculate the center of gravity from A by assuming the object in equilibrium state.
40N 40N 10N
20N

200

1m 2m 3m 4m

50N

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 46

FORCE DBS1012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Answer: Tutorial (Equilibrium of Forces)

1. a) Ax = 7.22 N, Ay = 0.632 N b) Ax = -4.16 N, Ay = 5.94 N

c) Ax = -3.06 N, Ay = -6.57 N d) Ax = 6.81 N, Ay = -2.48 N
2. a) 17 N b) 7 N to the left (-7N)
3. a) Fx = 5N, Fy = 8.66 N b) Fx = 3N, Fy = 5.196 N
4. Resultant Force = 8.095 N 5.Resultant Force = 10.63 N
6. Acceleration = 25.98 ms-1
7. ,

Answer: Tutorial (Moment of Forces)

1. 50Nm, 100Nm 2. a) x = 4.0 m , b) x = 3.93 m c) x = 7.2 m 3) x =0.66 m

******************************************************************************

Minimum requirement assessment task for this topic:

1 Theory Test & 1 Theoretical Exercise, 1 Labwork

Specification of Theory Test: CLO1 – C3
Specification of Theoretical Exercise: CLO3 – C3
******************************************************************************

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOME (CLO)

Upon completion of this topic, students should be able to:

1. solve the basic engineering science problems by using related concept. (C3, LD1)
2. organize appropriate experiments to prove related physic principles (P2),(A2)
3. apply related physic principles in various situations to enhance knowledge. (C3, LD1)

******************************************************************************

UNIT SAINS JMSK PUO Page 47