Introduction to Fundamentals

It is common in scientific texts to come across measurements that are given in S.I. units.
What does "S.I." stand for?

S.I. is an abbreviation of Syst&egraveme Internationale or International System: our metric

system of measurements.

It is an internationally standardised system, giving a common language between nations and

between the different branches of science and technology.

Over the next few pages, you will meet some of the S.I. units and the ways to modify them to
express any given measurement. As usual, you can follow the topics in any order (just keep
coming back to this page to jump to the link), or just go through in order.

The S.I. Base Units

The unit of measurement for any physical quantity is derived from a combination of the
seven base units. These base units are:

1. metre (m) -- length

2. kilogram (kg) -- mass
3. second (s) -- time
4. weight is the force exerted by amass as a result of its attraction to tthe force of gravity
5. kelvin (K) -- temperature

Prefixes and Foreign Languages

You are probably already familiar with the following conversions:

• 10 millimetres = 1 centimetre
• 100 centimetres = 1 metre
• 1000 metres = 1 kilometre

"Milli", "centi" and "kilo" are just three of the prefixes used to modify base units in the S.I.
system.
Prefix Translation
milli (m) 1/1000 or one thousandth
centi (c) 1/100 or one hundredth
kilo (k) 1000 or one thousand

So "1 millimetre" literally means "one thousandth of a metre".

Learning the S.I. units now becomes more of a language lesson than a mathematics lesson!
The next page shows the various prefixes that one is likely to come across while working
with measured quantities.
As you are reading through this table, notice that all the prefixes are multiples of ten. This is
one of the key properties of the SI system - it is a decimal system.

What Are The Prefixes?

The following two tables show the most commonly used prefixes for S.I. base units. Firstly,
we have prefixes that talk about multiples of a unit (i.e. more than one)...

Multiple Prefix Abbreviation

10 deca da

10^2 = 100 hecto h

10^3 = 1000 kilo k

10^6 mega M

10^9 giga G

10^12 tera T

Fraction Prefix Abbreviation

10^-1 = 1/10 deci d

10^-2 = 1/100 centi c

10^-3 = 1/1000 milli m

10^-6 micro µ

10^-9 nano n

10^-12 Pico p

10^-15 femto f

10^-18 atto a
NOTES:

1. A notation like 10^6 means 10 raised to power 6, or a "1" followed by six "0"s (i.e.
10^6=1000000). We represent it this way because unfortunately superscripts are not
possible in this program.
2. It is important not just to get an abbreviation's letter(s) correct, but also to have it in
the proper case (upper- or lower-case). There is a big difference between 1 mm and 1
Mm!
3. The abbreviation for the prefix "micro" (µ ) is the Greek letter mu.
4. Finally, notice how, except for the first couple of entries in each table, the prefixes
increase (or decrease) by multiples of 1000. Historically, it has been found that this
keeps measurements to a managable number of digits. For example, it is easy to tell
the size of 475.1 grams. However, to the nearest 1000, how big is 12650384? Notice
how you had to count the digits carefully? It could have been easier if I wrote this
number as 12650.384 x 10^3. Then you can quickly see that it is closest to 12 650 lots
of one thousand.

Length: metre (m)

The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of
1/299 792 458 of a second.

Mass: kilogram (kg)

The kilogram is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram: a piece of
platinum-iridium alloy kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, Sévres,
France.

Time: second (s)

The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.

Thermodynamic temperature: kelvin (K)

The kelvin is 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.

The unit kelvin and its symbol K should be used to express both thermodynamic temperature
and an interval or a difference of temperature.

In addition to the thermodynamic temperature (symbol T) there is also the Celsius (symbol t)
defined by the equation t=T-T0 where T0=273.15 K. Celsius temperature is expressed in
degree Celsius (symbol C). The unit 'degree Celsius' is equal to the unit 'kelvin', and a
temperature interval or a difference of temperature may also be expressed in degrees Celsius.
(The word degree and the sign o must not be used with kelvin or K).

Explanation during lecture time is critical of :

• what weight is and how it arises

 • acceleration due to gravity

• relative density and specific gravity

• explain the derived quantities i.e. energy force work power heat velocity acceleration

energy is always equivalent to the ability to exert pulls or pushes against the basic forces
of nature, along a path of a certain length energy is the ability to do work. Energy is
measured in JOULES The total energy contained in an object is identified with its mass,
and energy (like mass), cannot be created or destroyed. When matter (ordinary material
particles) is changed into energy (such as energy of motion, or into radiation), the mass of
the system does not change through the transformation process. However, there may be
mechanistic limits as to how much of the matter in an object may be changed into other
types of energy and thus into work, on other systems. Energy, like mass, is a scalar
physical quantity. In the International System of Units (SI), energy is measured in joules,
but in many fields other units, such as kilowatt-hours and kilocalories, are customary. All
of these units translate to units of work, which is always defined in terms of forces and
the distances that the forces act through

Work :This is not to be confused with energy and it is the product force multiplied by
distance moved in a particular direction conceptually work is the amount of primary
energy converted into another form of energy now examples are needed to demonstrate
this concept it must be noted that the students must accept and under stand the distinction
between work and Energy this can be demonstrated by looking at some examples of
mechanical work and how it is calculated I unit of work is the same as for energy that is
in joules.

Power is the rate of doing work it is the ratio work done (j)/time taken (s) it is measured
in watts

Heat The heat energy of a substance is determined by how active its atoms and molecules
are. A hot object is one whose atoms and molecules are excited and show rapid
movement heat is measured in watts(Joules per second)

Velocity is the rate of change of distance in a particular direction velocity is in other

words the speed in a particular direction m/s

Accceleration is the rate of change of velocity m/s2

Temperature is a measure of the average ke of particles in an object

Imperial units to SI units Inter Conversion

Metric to Imperial Units Conversion

Metric & Imperial Units - Table and explanation of Metric and Imperial units.
Common Errors - Common metric errors and how to avoid them
Cooking Converter - Metric conversion for cooking
For accuracy, the converters below use the official conversion rates (which are up to 13
digits). However, for ease of use, the reference table (chart) under each converter rounds off
to the nearest 2nd digit.

Length Conversion

For length, there is no difference between USA and Imperial measures.

Imperial/USA unitMetric (SI) unit Metric (SI) unitImperial/USA unit

Inch 2.54 centimetres Centimeter 0.39 inches

Foot 30.48 centimeters Meter 3.28 feet

Yard 0.91 meters Meter 1.09 yards

Mile 1.61 kilometers Kilometer 0.62 miles

Weight (or mass) conversion

Imperial/USA unit Metric (SI) unit Metric (SI) unit Imperial/USA unit

Ounce (weight) 28.35 grams Gram 0.035 ounces

Pound 0.45 kilograms Kilogram 2.21 pounds

UK ton (2240 pounds)1.02 metric tons Metric ton (1000 kg.)0.98 UK tons

US ton (2000 pounds) 0.91 metric tons Metric ton (1000 kg.)1.10 US tons

The USA and Imperial systems of measurement use the same ounce and pound. The USA ton
(also known as the "short ton" is 2000 pounds, the UK ton (also known as the "long ton") is
2240 pounds, and the metric ton is 1000 kg.

In the metric (SI) system, the term mass is used instead of weight. Weight is a measure of
how heavy something is, whereas mass is a measure of the amount of matter. To illustrate,
something that weighs 60 pounds on the earth would only weigh about 10 pounds on the
moon (due to the lower gravity of the moon), whereas something the has a mass of 60
Kilograms on the earth would still have a mass of 60 kilograms on the moon (as the amount
of matter is unchanged). Consequently, the statement that 1 kilogram is 2.21 pounds is true
here on earth but not elsewhere (a point mainly of interest to scientists).Pressure or stress is
such that 1(ib/in2)= 6.894 *104 pa(ie Pascal or N/m2).
Pressure and Stress
Both have the same units ie Ib/in2and pa /(N/m2) stress in engineering is usually the force per
unit area acting in a material cross section pressure can refer to the force per unit area
exerted by a gas or liquid onto its container walls. Pressure can be the focce per unit area
exerted by an object on its support.

Stress or pressure=Force N /Area m2

Statics Work Energy and Power

Statics,Work, Power and Energy

FREE BODY DIAGRAMS
No doubt you are aware of free body diagrams
(otherwise known as FBD's). These are simplified
representations of an object (the body) in a
problem, and includes force vectors acting on the
object. This body is free because the diagram will
show it without its surroundings; i.e. the body is
'free' of its environment. This eliminates
unnecessary information which might be given in
a problem.

In this tutorial, we will review some of the main

forces which you will encounter in physics, and Figure 1 A ship, pulled by a rope, on a sunny
day. (Use your imagination.)
discuss their contribution to an FBD.

Gravity
Normal Force
Friction
Push or Pull
Tension
Let's take Figure 1 to be a pictoral representation of
our problem: a boat on the floor, with a rope pulling it.
First we will represent the boat -- the 'body' in our
problem -- as a (really) simplified figure, a square
(Figure 2).

Figure 2 Simplified diagram of the ship

Gravity
The first force we will investigate is that due to
gravity, and we'll call it the gravitational force. We
know that the acceleration due to gravity (if on Earth)
is approximately g = 9.8 m/s . The force, by Newton's
Second Law is
F=mg

where g is the acceleration due to gravity. Let's add

this to our diagram (Figure 3). Note that the force
vector, labelled Fmg, points downward, as this is the
direction in which the gravitation force acts.
Figure 3 Ship, with the gravitational force
labelled
Note that this force is commonly called weight. This
'weight' (m g) is different from our everyday use of the
word 'weight' (which is known in physics as 'mass').
Normal
The normal force one which prevents objects from
'falling' into whatever it is they are sitting upon. It is
always perpendicular to the surface with which an
object is in contact. For example, if there is a crate on
the floor, then we say that the crate experiences a
normal force by the floor; and because of this force,
the crate does not fall into the floor. The normal force
on the crate points upward, perpendicular to the floor.

It is called the normal force because normal and

perpendicular mean the same thing. The normal force
is always perpendicular to the surface with which a Figure 4 Ship, with gravitational and
normal forces.
body is in constact. For a body on a sloped surface
(say a ramp), the normal force acting on that body is
still perpendicular to the slope.

In the case of our problem, the ship, we will pretend

the ship is being pulled on a floor. (This is because on
water there is the complication with another force,
buoyancy. For simplicity's sake, we will ignore
buoancy by putting the ship on the floor.) Let's add the
normal force to our FBD (Figure 4), and represent the
normal force with the script 'N', .

Friction

Related to the normal force is the frictional force. The

two are related because they are both due to the
surface in contact with the body. Whereas the normal
force was perpendicular to the surface, the frictional
force is parallel. Furthermore, friction opposes motion,
and so its vector always points away from the
direction of movement.

Friction is divided into two categories, static and

kinetic. These are represented by the script 'F', with a
subscript 's' for static friction: , and a subscript 'k' Figure 5 Ship, with gravitational, normal,
and frictional forces
for kinetic friction, . As its name suggests, static
friction occurs when the body is not moving (i.e.
"static"). It is the force which makes it difficult to start
something moving. On the other hand, kinetic friction
occurs when the body is in motion. This is the force
which causes objects to slow down and eventually
stop.

Friction is usually approximated as being proportional

to the normal force. The proportionality constant is
called the coefficient of (static or kinetic) friction. The
constant is represented as for static friction, and
for kinetic friction; it depends on the actual
surface with which the body is in contact.

To summarize,

=
=
We've added (kinetic) friction to our free body
diagram, Figure 5.

Push and Pull

Another force which may act on an object could be
any physical push or pull. This could be caused by a
person pushing a crate on the floor, a child pulling on
a wagon, or in the case of our example, the wind
pushing on the ship.

We will label the push force caused by the wind with

Fpush

Figure 6 Ship, with gravitational, normal,

frictional, and push forces

Tension

Tension in an object results if pulling force act on its

ends, such as in a rope used to pull a boulder. If no
forces are acting on the rope, say, except at its ends,
and the rope itself is in equilibrium, then the tension is
the same throughout the rope.

We will use the letter T to represent tension in a free

body diagram.

If we say that our ship is being pulled by a rope at its

front end, then we can add this force to our FBD
(Figure 7). Figure 7 Ship with gravitational, normal,
frictional, push, and tension forces

And there we have it: all the forces acting on our ship has been labelled in Figure 7. This is
the complete FBD for our problem of a ship being pulled along a floor by a rope.

Work done by a constant force

• When the point at which a force acts moves, the force is said to have done work.
• When the force is constant, the work done is defined as the product of the force and
distance moved.
•
• Consider the example in Figure 3.1, a force F acting at the angle θ moves a body from
point A to point B.
 •
• Figure 3.1: Notation for work done by a force
• The distance moved in the direction of the force is given by
•
• So the work done by the force F is
•
• Equation 3.1
• If the body moves in the same direction as the force the angle is 0.0 so
• Work done = Fs
• When the angle is 90 then the work done is zero.
• The SI units for work are Joules J (with force, F, in Newton's N and distance, s, in
metres m).
• Worked Example 3.1
• How much work is done when a force of 5 kN moves its point of application 600mm
in the direction of the force.
• Solution

• Worked Example 3.2

• Find the work done in raising 100 kg of water through a vertical distance of 3m.
• Solution
• The force is the weight of the water, so

Work done by a variable force

• Forces in practice will often vary. In these cases Equation 3.1 cannot be used.
Consider the case where the force varies as in Figure 3.2
• For the thin strip with width ds - shown shaded in Figure 3.2 - the force can be
considered constant at F. The work done over the distance ds is then
 •
• This is the area of the shaded strip.
• The total work done for distance s is the sum of the areas of all such strips. This is the
same as the area under the Force-distance curve.

•
• Figure 3.2: Work done by a variable force
• So for a variable force
•
• Equation 3.2
• Clearly this also works for a constant force - the curve is then a horizontal line.
• In general you must uses some special integration technique to obtain the area under a
curve. Three common techniques are the trapezoidal, mid-ordinate and Simpson's
rule. They are not detailed here but may be found in many mathematical text book.

• Energy
• A body which has the capacity to do work is said to possess energy.
• For example , water in a reservoir is said to possesses energy as it could be used to
drive a turbine lower down the valley. There are many forms of energy e.g. electrical,
chemical heat, nuclear, mechanical etc.
• The SI units are the same as those for work, Joules J.
• In this module only purely mechanical energy will be considered. This may be of two
kinds, potential and kinetic.

Potential Energy

There are different forms of potential energy two examples are: i) a pile driver raised ready to
fall on to its target possesses gravitational potential energy while (ii) a coiled spring which is
compressed possesses an internal potential energy.

Only gravitational potential energy will be considered here. It may be described as energy
due to position relative to a standard position (normally chosen to be he earth's surface.)
The potential energy of a body may be defined as the amount of work it would do if it were to
move from the its current position to the standard position.

Back to the top

Formulae for gravitational potential energy

A body is at rest on the earth's surface. It is then raised a vertical distance h above the surface.
The work required to do this is the force required times the distance h.

Since the force required is it's weight, and weight, W = mg, then the work required is mgh.

The body now possesses this amount of energy - stored as potential energy - it has the
capacity to do this amount of work, and would do so if allowed to fall to earth.

Potential energy is thus given by:

Equation 3.3
where h is the height above the earth's surface.

Back to the top

Worked example 3.3

What is the potential energy of a 10kg mass:

a. 100m above the surface of the earth

b. at the bottom of a vertical mine shaft 1000m deep.

Solution

a)

b)
 Back to the top

Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy may be described as energy due to motion.

The kinetic energy of a body may be defined as the amount of work it can do before being
brought to rest.

For example when a hammer is used to knock in a nail, work is done on the nail by the
hammer and hence the hammer must have possessed energy.

Only linear motion will be considered here.

Formulae for kinetic energy

Let a body of mass m moving with speed v be brought to rest with uniform deceleration by a
constant force F over a distance s.

Using Equation 1.4

And work done is given by

The force is F = ma so
Thus the kinetic energy is given by

Equation 3.4

Kinetic energy and work done

When a body with mass m has its speed increased from u to v in a distance s by a constant
force F which produces an acceleration a, then from Equation 1.3 we know

multiplying this by m give an expression of the increase in kinetic energy (the difference in
kinetic energy at the end and the start)

Thus since F = ma

but also we know

So the relationship between kinetic energy can be summed up as

Work done by forces acting on a body = change of kinetic energy in the body

Equation 3.5
This is sometimes known as the work-energy theorem.

Worked example 3.4

A car of mass 1000 kg travelling at 30m/s has its speed reduced to 10m/s by a constant
breaking force over a distance of 75m.
Find:

a. The cars initial kinetic energy

b. The final kinetic energy
c. The breaking force

Solution

a)

b)

c)

Change in kinetic energy = 400 kJ

By Equation 3.5 work done = change in kinetic energy so

Back to the top

Conservation of energy
The principle of conservation of energy state that the total energy of a system remains
constant. Energy cannot be created or destroyed but may be converted from one form to
another.

Take the case of a crate on a slope. Initially it is at rest, all its energy is potential energy. As it
accelerates, some of it potential energy is converted into kinetic energy and some used to
overcome friction. This energy used to overcome friction is not lost but converted into heat.
At the bottom of the slope the energy will be purely kinetic (assuming the datum for potential
energy is the bottom of the slope.)

If we consider a body falling freely in air, neglecting air resistance, then mechanical energy
is conserved, as potential energy is lost and equal amount of kinetic energy is gained as
speed increases.

If the motion involves friction or collisions then the principle of conservation of energy is
true, but conservation of mechanical energy is not applicable as some energy is converted to
heat and perhaps sound.

Worked Example 3.5

A cyclist and his bicycle has a mass of 80 kg. After 100m he reaches the top of a hill, with
slope 1 in 20 measured along the slope, at a speed of 2 m/s. He then free wheels the 100m to
the bottom of the hill where his speed has increased to 9m/s.

How much energy has he lost on the hill?

Solution

Figure 3.3: Dimensions of the hill in worked example 3.5

If the hill is 100m long then the height is:

So potential energy lost is

Increase in kinetic energy is

By the principle of conservation of energy

Power

Power is the rate at which work is done, or the rate at which energy is used transferred.

Equation 3.6
The SI unit for power is the watt W.

A power of 1W means that work is being done at the rate of 1J/s.

Larger units for power are the kilowatt kW (1kW = 1000 W = 103 W) and

the megawatt MW (1 MW = 1000000 W = 106 W).

If work is being done by a machine moving at speed v against a constant force, or resistance,
F, then since work doe is force times distance, work done per second is Fv, which is the same
as power.

Equation 3.7

Worked Example 3.6

A constant force of 2kN pulls a crate along a level floor a distance of 10 m in 50s.

What is the power used?

Solution
Alternatively we could have calculated the speed first

And then calculated power

Worked Example 3.7

A hoist operated by an electric motor has a mass of 500 kg. It raises a load of 300 kg
vertically at a steady speed of 0.2 m/s. Frictional resistance can be taken to be constant at
1200 N.

What is the power required?

Solution

From Equation 3.7

Worked example 3.8

A car of mass 900 kg has an engine with power output of 42 kW. It can achieve a maximum
speed of 120 km/h along the level.

a. What is the resistance to motion?

b. If the maximum power and the resistance remained the same what would be the
maximum speed the car could achieve up an incline of 1 in 40 along the slope?

Solution

Figure 3.4: Forces on the car on a slope in Worked Example 3.8

First get the information into the correct units:

a) Calculate the resistance

b)
Or in km/h

Moment, couple and torque

The moment of a force F about a point is its turning effect about the point.

It is quantified as the product of the force and the perpendicular distance from the point to the
line of action of the force.

Figure 3.4: Moment of a force

In Figure 3.5 the moment of F about point O is

Equation 3.8
A couple is a pair of equal and parallel but opposite forces as shown in Figure 3.6:
 Figure 3.6: A couple

The moment of a couple about any point in its plane is the product of one force and the
perpendicular distance between them:

Equation 3.9
Example of a couple include turning on/off a tap, or winding a clock.

The SI units for a moment or a couple are Newton metres, Nm.

In engineering the moment of a force or couple is know as torque. A spanner tightening a nut
is said to exert a torque on the nut, similarly a belt turning a pulley exerts a torque on the
pulley.

Work done by a constant torque

Let a force F turn a light rod OA with length r through an angle of θ to position OB, as
shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7: Work done by a constant torque

The torque TQ exerted about O is force times perpendicular distance from O.

 Equation 3.10

Now work done by F is

s is the arc of the circle, when θis measure in radians

Equation 3.11

The work done by a constant torque TQ is thus the product of the torque and the angle through
which it turns (where the angle is measured in radians.)

As the SI units for work is Joules, TQ must be in Nm

Power transmitted by a constant torque

Power is rate of doing work. It the rod in Figure 3.7 rotates at n revolutions per second, then
in one second the angle turned through is

radians, and the work done per second will be, by Equation 3.11

as angular speed is

then

Equation 3.12
The units of power are Watts, W, with n in rev/s, ω in rad/s and TQ in Nm.
Worked Example 3.9

A spanner that is used to tighten a nut is 300mm long. The force exerted on the end of a
spanner is 100 N.

a. What is the torque exerted on the nut?

b. What is the work done when the nut turns through 30° ?

Solution

a)

Calculate the torque by Equation 3.10

b)

Calculate the work done by Equation 3.11

An electric motor is rated at 400 W. If its efficiency is 80%, find the maximum torque which
it can exert when running at 2850 rev/min.

Solution

Calculate the speed in rev/s using Equation 3.12

Calculate the power as the motor is 80% efficient

Moments and Equilibrium
Moments

Equilibrium of a lamina under parallel forces

Uniform Beams

Non uniform beams

Questions

Extension

The moment of a force is the measure of its capacity to turn the body on which it is acting.

Moment = Force × Perpendicular Distance

Example 1

A door of width 1.2m is being pushed by a force of 25N. Find the moment about the hinge.
 Moment = Force × Perpendicular Distance

= 25 × 1.2 = 30Nm

Example 2

Forces of magnitude 6N, 8N and 5N are applied to a light rod AB, of length 8m, as outlined
in the diagram below.

8m
A B

2m

6N 8N 5N

Calculate the sum of the moments about the midpoint of the rod.

Moment of 6N force is given by: 6 × 4 = 24Nm clockwise

Moment of 8N force is given by: 8 × 2 = 16Nm clockwise

Moment of 5N force is given by: 5 × 4 = 20Nm anti-clockwise

Therefore the sum of the moments is 20Nm clockwise.

It is more likely however that the forces are not being applied at right angles to the object.
 F

x
P

The diagram above shows a force F, acting on an object P at a given angle θ and given
distance d. The force brings about a turning effect at P. The dotted line is the perpendicular
distance. x = d × Sinθ.

Therefore the moment about P is given by:

Moment = Force × Perpendicular Distance from line of action of force to pivot point

Moment = FdSinθ

Example 3

Two forces are applied to a point as outlined in the diagram below. Find the sum of the
moment about P.
 3m
30º P

5m
8N

6N
N

The 6N force gives a 30Nm clockwise moment.

3m
30º
.P

5m
8N

6N
N

The dotted line has been added to show the perpendicular distance. The 8N force gives an
anticlockwise moment of magnitude:

8 × 3 × Sin30 = 12Nm.

Therefore the system is experiencing a clockwise moment of magnitude 18Nm.

Example 4

A point Q(4,6) is acted upon by a force (2i + 5j)N. Calculate the sum of the moment about
the origin.
 5j

6 Q 2i

3 R

4 7

The 2i force gives a clockwise moment of: 2 × 6 = 12Nm

The 5j force gives a anticlockwise moment of: 5 × 4 = 20Nm

Therefore the sum of the moments is 8Nm anticlockwise.

Find the sum of the moments about the point R(7,3).

The 2i force gives a clockwise moment of: 2 × 3 = 6Nm

The 5j force gives a clockwise moment of: 5 × 3 = 15Nm

Therefore the sum of the moments is 21Nm clockwise.

Equilibrium of a lamina under parallel forces

Moments

If a system is in equilibrium then the following must hold:

1. The component of the resultant force in any direction must be zero.

2. The algebraic sum of the moments about any point must be zero.
For uniform non light systems the weight acts through the centre of mass. A rod is said to be
uniform if it has even weight distribution and therefore the centre of mass acts at the centre of
the rod.

Example 5

A uniform rod PQ of length 7m and mass 12kg is pivoted at the point R where PR is 2.5m.
Calculate the mass of the particle that must be attached at P to maintain the rod in a
horizontal position.

7m
P R Q
G
2.5m

xgN 12gN

The moment at P about R must equate to the moment at G about R.

The mass of the rod gives a clockwise moment of:

12g × 1 = 12gNm

The mass added at P rod gives an anticlockwise moment of:

xg × 2.5 = 2.5xNm.

Therefore:

12gNm = 2.5xNm
 x = 4.8Kg

Uniform Beams

Moments

Example 6

A uniform beam AB of mass 40kg and length 12m is supported in a horizontal position at C
and D, where AC = 1.5m and DB = 1m. A man of mass 80Kg stands on the beam at the
point E where EB = 2.5m. Find the reactions at C and D.

Examiners always suggest that a diagram is VITAL.

X Y
12m
A 1.5m E 1m
B

C D

40g 80g

Resolving vertically gives:

X + Y = 120g (1)

Taking Moments about C gives:

The mass of the beam gives a clockwise moment of: 40g × 4.5 = 180gNm

The mass of the man gives a clockwise moment of: 80g × 8 = 640gNm

The reaction at D gives an anticlockwise moment of: 9.5YNm

Therefore:

9.5Y = 820g

1640
Y= g = 845.9N
19

Using equation (1) from above

X + Y = 120g

X + 845.9 = 120g

X= 330N

Non uniform beams

Moments

Example 7

A non uniform beam AB of mass 20kg and length 12m has an object of mass 40kg placed at
a point 8m from A. The beam is in equilibrium in a horizontal position resting on a support C
at the midpoint of AB. Find the position of the centre of mass.
 12m

X
A y E
B

20g 40g

Taking moments about C gives:

40g × 2 = 20g × y

Y = 4m

Questions

Moments

(some diagrams have forces missing, you need to figure out which ones!)

1 A uniform rod AB of weight 70N and length 5m. It rests in a horizontal position
supported at point C and D, where AC = 0.4m. the reaction on the rod at C has magnitude
9N. Find

a) the magnitude of the reaction on the rod at D

b) the distance AD.

 9 Y
A
B

C D

2 A uniform rod AB of length 6m and mass 40Kg. It is supported by two smooth pivots
in a horizontal position at A and C where AC = 3m. A woman! of mass 75Kg stands on the
rod which remains in equilibrium. The magnitudes of the reactions at the two pivots are
equal to R Newtons.

A
B

Find
a) the value of R.

b) the distance of the woman from A.

3 A non uniform plank of wood AB of length 10m and mass 100Kg. The plank is
smoothly supported in a horizontal position at A and B. An object of mass 90Kg is put on the
plank at C, where AC = 6m. The plank is in equilibrium and the magnitudes of the reactions
at A and B are equal . Find:

a) the magnitude of the reaction R, on the plank at B.

b) the distance, x, of the centre of mass of the plank from A.

 6m
A
C B

4 A uniform plank AB has weight 80N and length xm. The plank rests in equilibrium
on two supports at A and C, where AC = 3m. A rock of weight 20N is placed at B and the
plank remains in equilibrium. The reaction on the plank at C has magnitude 70N.

a) find the value of x

xm
A
B

The support at A is now moved to a point D on the plank and the plank remains in
equilibrium with the rock at B. The reaction on the plank at C is now two times the reaction
at D.

b) find the distance AD.

5 A non uniform rod, AB, of length 7m and mass 10Kg is suspended in equilibrium in a
horizontal position by ropes attached to the points E and F of the rod, where AE = 2m and AF
= 6m. The tensions in the ropes are equal. Find the distance of the centre of mass from A

Extension

Moments

1 A large log AB is 10m long. It rests in a horizontal on two supports C and D, where
AC = 1m and BD = 1m. An estimate of the weight of the log is required, but the log is too
heavy to lift off the supports. When a force of magnitude 1100N is applied vertically to the
log at A, the log is about to tilt about D.

a) state the value of the reaction on the log at C for this case.

b) by modelling the log as a uniform rod, estimate the weight of the log.

X Y
10m
A 1m 1m
B

C D

??g

The force at A is removed and a force vertically upwards is applied at B. The log is about to
tilt about C when the force has a magnitude of 1600N. By modelling the log as a non
uniform rod, with the distance of the centre of mass of the log being x metres from A, find:

c) A new estimate for the weight of the log.

d) The value of x.

Equilibrium See PDF hand out on EQUILIBRUM