B273 | STATICS OF RIGID BODIES

LECTURE 2
RESULTANTS OF FORCE SYSTEMS

o FORCES AND COMPONENTS

o RESULTANT OF CONCURRENT FORCES
o MOMENT OF A FORCE
o THE PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS. VARIGNON’S THEOREM
o RESULTANT OF PARALLEL FORCES
o COUPLES
o RESULTANT OF NON-CONCURRENT FORCE SYSYTEMS

2.1 FORCES AND COMPONENTS

RESULTANT – single force; the effect of which is the same of the concurrent, parallel and
non-concurrent.
- If there is a zero resultant or at rest, is in equilibrium.
- The effect of the resultant is equal to the effect of the given force system.

y 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑥 𝑭𝒙 = 𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽𝒙

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑦

𝑭𝒚 = 𝑭𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽𝒙

𝑭𝒚
𝑭
𝑭 = √(𝑭𝒙 )𝟐 + (𝑭𝒚 )𝟐

𝜃𝑥 𝑭𝒚
𝜽𝒙 = 𝒕𝒂𝒏−𝟏 |
x 𝑭𝒙
|
0 𝑭𝒙

2.2 RESULTANT OF THREE OR MORE CONCURRENT FORCES

The determination of the resultant of three or more concurrent forces that are not
collinear requires determining the sum of three or more vectors.

TWO WAYS OF ACCOMPLISHING THE ADDITION OF 3 OR MORE VECTORS:

1. GRAPHICALLY BY PARALLELOGRAM LAW AND TRIANGLE LAW

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2. ANALYTICALLY
𝑹𝒙 = ∑ 𝑿

𝑹𝒚 = ∑ 𝒀

𝟐 𝟐
𝑹 = √(∑ 𝑿) + (∑ 𝒀)
∑𝒀
𝒕𝒂𝒏𝜽𝒙 =
∑𝑿

2.3 MOMENT OF A FORCE

The moment of a force about an axis or line is the measure of its ability to produce
turning or twisting about an axis.

The Moment of a force is a measure

y 𝑭 𝑭𝒚 of its tendency to cause a body to
rotate about a specific point or axis.

The magnitude of the moment of a

force about an axis which is
𝑭𝒙 perpendicular to a plane containing
𝑭𝒚 𝒅
the line of action of the force is
𝒊𝒚 defined as the product of the force
and the perpendicular distance
x from the axis to the line of action of
𝑜 the force.
𝑭𝒙
𝒊𝒙 Moment composes a Force F and
distance d.

2.4 VARIGNON’S THEOREM

The moment of a force is equivalent to the sum of the moments of its components.

+
𝑴𝒐 𝒙 = ∑ 𝑭𝒙 . 𝒊𝒚

+
𝑴𝒐 𝒚 = ∑ 𝑭𝒚 . 𝒊𝒙
+
∑ 𝑴𝒐 = 𝑴𝒐 𝒙 + 𝑴𝒐 𝒚 = ∑ 𝑭𝒙 . 𝒊𝒚 + ∑ 𝑭𝒚 . 𝒊𝒙

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where:
𝑴𝒐 𝒙 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
𝑴𝒐 𝒚 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
∑ 𝑴𝒐 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
𝑭𝒙 − ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑭𝒚 − 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝒊𝒙 − 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑥 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝒊𝒚 − 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

2.5 RESULTANT OF PARALLEL FORCES

A parallel force system is one in which the action lines of all the forces are parallel. The
resultant of such a system is determined when it is known in magnitude, direction, and
position. One of the outstanding differences between a concurrent and a parallel force
system is that in the former the position of the resultant is known by inspection whereas in
the latter it is not.

𝟐 𝟐
𝑹 = √(∑ 𝑿) + (∑ 𝒀)

Which reduces to:

𝑅 = ∑𝐹
To determine the position of R with
respect to O as a moment center and
employ the principle that the moment
𝑜
of a resultant equals the moment sum
of its parts. Denoting the moment sum
of the force system by ∑M o and the
moment arm of R by d, we then have:

𝑹(𝒅) = ∑ 𝑴𝒐

The relative position of R with respect to O is determined from the fact that the resultant
must produce the same moment effect as the original system. A sample problem will
illustrate the technique used.

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2.6 COUPLES

Couples are made up of 2 equal and parallel forces (equal in

magnitude and opposite in direction).
𝐶 = 𝐹. 𝑑
Where:
C – couple
F – force
d – distance between the forces

For inspection,
+
𝑴𝑨 = 𝑭(𝒅)
+
𝑴𝑩 = 𝑭(𝒅 + 𝒂) − 𝑭(𝒂) = 𝑭(𝒅)

2.7 RESULTANT OF NON-CONCURRENT FORCES SYTEMS

It will be shown in kinetics of rigid bodies (Part II) that the effect of unbalanced non-
concurrent force systems on a body is to give the body a motion consisting of a
combined translation and rotation. The translational effect is determined by the
magnitude of the resultant R whose components are ∑ 𝑋 and ∑ 𝑌. The rational effect
is determined by the moment of the resultant force which may be expressed in terms
of the applied forces by 𝑅(𝑑) = ∑ 𝑀.

It is necessary to remember that a resultant of a force system is defined as a force

(or forces if the resultant is a couple) which produces the same effect as the original
set of forces. The components of the resultant must therefore equal the component
effects of the given force system. This statement may be expressed by the following
relations:

𝑹𝒙 = ∑ 𝑿

𝑹𝒚 = ∑ 𝒀

𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑹 = 𝑹(𝒅) = ∑ 𝑴

𝟐 𝟐
𝑹 = √𝑹𝒙 𝟐 + 𝑹𝒚 𝟐 = √(∑ 𝑿) + (∑ 𝒀)

𝑹𝒚 ∑ 𝒀
𝑡𝒂𝒏𝜽𝒙 = =
𝑹𝒙 ∑ 𝑿

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Reference:
Singer, Ferdinand L., Engineering Mechanics, Second Edition, A Harper International
Edition

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