Engineering Mechanics-I:

Statics
By: Engr. Ahmed Zaheer

Mechanical Engineering Department

University of Engineering & Technology, Taxila, Pakistan
 Lecture-4:

Moment of Force
Contents
Covered in this Lecture
• Concept of Moment
• 2D Moments
• 3D Moments
• Moment along a Specific Axis
• Couple
Moment of Force
Moment of Force
• Turning Effect of Force
Force Systems - Moment

 Normally the tendency of a force is to move a body in the direction of

application.
 But in addition to this, a force can also tend to rotate a body about
an axis.
• The rotational tendency of a force is known as the moment
of the force.

The axis may be any line which

neither intersects nor is parallel to
the line of action of the force.

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Force Systems - Moment

Consider the pipe wrench. Force applied perpendicular to the

handle of the wrench is the tendency to rotate the pipe
about its vertical axis.
The magnitude of this tendency depends on both the
magnitude F of the force and the effective length d of the
wrench handle.
Common experience shows that a
pull which is not perpendicular to the
wrench handle is less effective than
the right-angle pull shown.

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Moment of Force
• Turning Effect of Force

• Direction of Moment
• Axis of Rotation is perpendicular to
the plane containing Force &
Moment Arm.
• Direction of moment can be found using
Right and Rule.
• Moment is defined as either Clockwise or
Anti-clockwise.
Force Systems - Moment

Moment about a Point

 Let a force F acting on two-dimensional body in its plane.
 Moment about O-O or z-axis is proportional both to the
magnitude of the force F and to the moment arm d,
 d is the perpendicular distance from the O-O or z-axis to the
line of action of the force.

N-m
Ibs-ft

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Moment of Force
• Direction of Moment: RIGHT HAND RULE
• Determined by Right-hand Rule.
• Curl your fingers from Moment Arm
towards Force. Thumb points towards
Axis of Rotation.
• Curl of fingers indicates DIRECTION of
Moment i.e. Clockwise or Anti-clockwise.
Force Systems - Moment

Sense of the Moment

• The direction of moment vector M is always perpendicular
to the plane of the body.
• The sense of M depends on the direction in which F tends to
rotate the body.

Right-hand Rule

We represent the moment of F

about O-O as a vector pointing
in the direction of the thumb,
with the fingers curled in the
direction of the rotational
tendency.
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Force Systems - Moment

Sense of the Moment

Moment directions may be accounted positive (+) for
counterclockwise moments and a negative (-) for clockwise moments,
or vice versa.

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Moment of Force
• Turning Effect of Force

• Resultant Moment
• Adding the turning effects Moments
of all Non-Concurrent Forces
results in net turning effect of system
i.e. Resultant Moment.
Principal of Moments
• Addition of multiple Moments to find Resultant Moment.
• Varignon’s Theorem
Principal of Moments
• Addition of multiple Moments to find Resultant Moment.
• Varignon’s Theorem
Force Systems - Moment

Varignon’s Theorem
The moment M of a force F about any point is equal to the sum of the
moments of the components of the that force about the same point.

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Force Systems - Moment

Varignon’s Theorem

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2D Moments:
Examples
2D Moments:
Examples (contd.)
2D Moments:
Examples (contd.)
3D Moments
Force Systems - Moment

The Cross Product (Vector Approach)

The moment M of force F about point A may be represented
by the cross-product.
where r is a position vector which runs from the moment
reference point A to any point on the line of action of F.

Magnitude

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Cross Product
• For 3D Moments, Cross-Product is used for calculations.
Resultant Moment
• For 3D Moments, Cross-Product is used for calculations.
• For multiple non-concurrent forces causing rotation in a system,
addition of all te Moments results in Net Rotation.
Example
• Determine the moment produced by the force F in the figure about
point O.
Example
• A 20-N horizontal force is applied perpendicular to the handle of the
socket wrench. Determine the magnitude and the coordinate
direction angles of the moment created by this force about point O.
Moment about
Specific Axis
Moment about a Specific Axis
• Sometimes, the moment produced by a force about a specified axis
must be determined.
Scalar Triple Product
• Triple Product
Scalar Triple Product
• Moment about an arbitrary axis:
Example
• Determine the moment MAB produced by the force F in the figure,
which tends to rotate the rod about the AB axis.
Couple
Moment of a Couple
• A couple is defined as two parallel forces that have the same
magnitude, but opposite directions, and are separated by a
perpendicular distance d.
• Moment produced by a couple is called a Couple Moment.
Moment of a Couple:
2D
• A couple is defined as two parallel forces that have the same
magnitude, but opposite directions, and are separated by a
perpendicular distance d.
Moment of a Couple:
3D
• A couple is defined as two parallel forces that have the same
magnitude, but opposite directions, and are separated by a
perpendicular distance d.
Equivalent Couple
• If two couples produce a moment with the same magnitude and
direction, then these two couples are equivalent
Example
• Determine the resultant couple moment of the three couples acting
on the plate.
Example
• Determine the magnitude and direction of the couple moment acting
on the gear.
Example
• Determine the couple moment acting on the pipe shown in the
figure. Segment AB is directed 30° below the x–y plane.
Conclusion

• The End

• Thank You!

• Any Questions?