Computer Programming Skills MathCad Solution by DF Sozinando Student at the

Vaal University of Technology

*The three forces F
1
=600N, F
2
=400N and F
3
=800N acting on pole are equivalent to a single force R.
Determine:
(a) The magnitude of R
(b) The coordinates of the point where the line of action of R crosses xy-plane

Solution: ORIGIN 1
NB: any force direction depends how and where the forces act.
F
1
600N := F
2
400N := F
3
800N :=
1. Component of Forces F
componesnts
i
j
k
|

\
|
|
|
.
=
F
1_comp
600N
0
0
1
|

\
|
|
|
.
0
0
600
|

\
|
|
|
.
N = :=
F
2_comp
400N
0
sin 30 ( ) -
cos 30 ( ) -
|

\
|
|
|
.
0
200 -
346.41 -
|

\
|
|
|
.
N = :=
F
3_comp
800N
sin 30 ( ) cos 50 ( )
sin 30 ( ) sin 50 ( )
cos 30 ( ) -
|

\
|
|
|
.
257.115
306.418
692.82 -
|

\
|
|
|
.
N = :=
Computer Programming Skills MathCad Solution by DF Sozinando Student at the
Vaal University of Technology
2. Resultant Force in each direction
F
res
F
1_comp
F
2_comp
+ F
3_comp
+
257.115
106.418
439.23 -
|

\
|
|
|
.
N = :=
3. Magnitude of the Resultant Force
F
res_magn
F
res
1
|
\
|
.
2
F
res
2
|
\
|
.
2
+ F
res
3
|
\
|
.
2
+ 519.958 N = :=
F
res
519.958 N =
Alternative:
tan ( )
F
res
2
F
res
1
=
solve ,
explicit
atan
F
res
2
F
res
1
|

\
|
|
|
.

atan
F
res
2
F
res
1
|

\
|
|
|
.
:= 22.484 deg =