Moments of

forces
 Objectives
➢ Differentiate between work and moments
➢ Calculate the moment of a force
 Work and moment are two different concepts in physics
that describe different aspects of motion and forces.
Here's how they differ:
 Work:
 Work is a scalar quantity and is measured in joule (J).
 Work is the product of the force applied to an object and the
distance over which the force is applied in the direction of the
force.
 Mathematically, work (W) is defined as:

W = F * d * cos(θ)
Where:
W is the work done (in joule).
F is the magnitude of the force applied (in newton, N).
d is the distance over which the force is applied (in meter, m).
θ is the angle between the direction of the force and the direction of motion.
 Work can be positive, negative, or zero:
 Positive work occurs when the force and the
displacement are in the same direction.
 Negative work occurs when the force and the
displacement are in opposite directions.
 Zero work occurs when there is no displacement or when
the force is applied perpendicular to the direction of
motion.
Moment:
 Moment, also known as torque, is a vector quantity and is measured
in newton-meter (Nm) or joule (J).
 Moment is associated with rotational motion
 It is defined as the product of the force applied and the perpendicular
distance from the point of rotation to the line of action of the force.
 Mathematically, moment (τ) is defined as:
τ = r * F * sin(θ)
Where:
τ is the moment or torque (in newton-meter, Nm or joule, J).
r is the perpendicular distance from the point of rotation to the line of action
of the force (in meter, m).
F is the magnitude of the force applied (in newton, N).
θ is the angle between the force vector and the direction of the lever arm
(perpendicular distance).
Moment is responsible for causing rotational motion or
changes in the angular velocity of an object.
Calculate the moment of force
Example: Calculate the moment of force (torque) applied to a
wrench when a person applies a 10 newton force to turn a bolt that
is 0.2 meter away from the pivot point.
The formula for calculating moment of force (torque) is:

Torque (τ) = Force (F)×Distance (r)×sin(θ)

In this simple example, we assume that the force is applied
perpendicular to the lever arm, so sin(θ) is 1.
In this case, the force is 10 newton (F = 10 N), and the distance
from the pivot point is 0.2 meters (r = 0.2 m).
Now, let's calculate the torque:

Torque (τ)=10 N×0.2 m × 1

Torque (τ)=2 Nm

So, the moment of force (torque) applied to the wrench is 2 newton-

meter (Nm). This means that a torque of 2 Nm is trying to rotate the
bolt around its pivot point.