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Cross Product and Torque

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33 views4 pages

Cross Product and Torque

Uploaded by

maya.jainnn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Cross product and torque

By: Maya Jain

Vectors play a crucial role in physics due to their ability to describe quantities that have both magnitude
and direction. They help us describe a wide range of physical quantities, such as motion, force, weight,
and momentum. They can also help us describe electric and magnetic fields.
Torque is a measure of the force that causes an object to rotate or change its rotational motion. It
is a vector quantity, and measured in Newton-meters (Nm). In physics, torque “ 𝜏 ” is calculated using
𝜏=⃗r × ⃗F or 𝜏=⃗ ¿ r⃗
¿∨F∨¿ sin θ ¿ where “r⃗ ” is the displacement from the pivot to point where force is
applied in meters and ⃗ F is the force applied to the system in newtons. While torque is calculated using
force and displacement, it is not considered work. Work is calculated when displacement and applied
force are parallel to each other while torque is calculated when the applied force is perpendicular to the
position vector of the object’s axis (also known as its “moment arm”). Therefore, torque is kept in
Newton-meters and is not expressed in Joules.
Additionally, work is a scalar quantity as it is
the dot product and torque is a vector quantity
as it is the cross product. We can see this in
physics applications– work is never expressed
as a direction, while torque can be expressed as
clockwise or counterclockwise (You will never
see 5J [right], for example).
Using graphing, we can model torque
as vectors. To the graph above we can see how
𝜏 is perpendicular to both ⃗ F and r⃗ . Again, this
because it the cross product of both vectors.
We can also use 𝜏=⃗ ¿ r⃗¿∨F∨¿ sin θ ¿ to
determine the direction of torque. Any angle
that is negative is considered clockwise, and
any angle that is positive is considered counterclockwise. So, if the magnitudes of radius and force are
multiplied by a positive sinθ, for example, torque will be counterclockwise. If the magnitudes of radius
and force are multiplied by a negative sinθ,
torque will be clockwise.

EXAMPLE 1:

You are using a wrench with a moment arm of


20 cm to screw a bolt into a door. If you apply
5N to the wrench in the counterclockwise
direction, calculate the torque of the system.
1. I started by solving
the angle between
the force and radius
using the arctan.
Since it was a
positive angle, I
concluded that the
torque would be
counterclockwise.
2. Using the formula I
substituted the
known force, torque
and angle.
3. The system has a
torque of 1Nm,
counterclockwise.

EXAMPLE 1 PART 2:
The situation from part one is now expressed as vectors, where the moment arm lays at 0º of its rotation,
and the system is laying on a flat surface. Using the cross product, determine the torque of the system.
*technically, ⃗
F lays right on the y-axis but I put moved it to demonstrate where the force is exerted on the moment arm.

EXAMPLE 3 (another physics application):

You are pushing a 40 kg child in a box that is attached by a rope to a steel pole in the middle of an ice
rink. The box and child move at an acceleration of -0.02 m/s2. If the torque of the system is 0.5 Nm
clockwise, how long is the rope (in centimeters)?

Explanation

First, I made notes about the situation. Since the box is sliding on ice, we don’t need to worry about the
force of friction, and can consider the box’s acceleration the net force of the system. Since we are asked
to solve for the length of the rope, we’ll consider the torque equation (𝜏=⃗ ¿ r⃗
¿∨F∨¿ sin θ ¿ ) to solve
for the radius. Using this equation, we will need the torque of the system ✅ and the
force acting on the system❌ to solve for radius/length.
1. Since we are given the child’s mass and acceleration, we can use Newton’s second law to solve
for the net force acting on the box and child (minding the box’s mass), which states that the net
force is equal to mass of an object times its acceleration. Force is a vector, and since it has a
negative value, we can conclude that the force acts in the clockwise direction.
2. Now we have both the torque and force of the situation, and can solve for the radius/length of the
rope.
3. Since length is a scalar quantity, I decided to calculate using the magnitudes of torque and force.
After rearranging the equation, I was able to solve for the length, which in centimeters, ended up
being around 60cm (with significant figures).

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