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Chapter 2

Moment of a Force
The tendency of a force to produce rotation of a body
about some reference axis or point is called the moment of a
force (see Figures 2.29a and 2.29b). Quantitatively, the moment M of a force F about a point A is defined as the product of the magnitude of the force F and perpendicular
distance d from A to the line of action of F. In equation
form,
MA = F * d
(a)

The subscript A denotes the point about which the moment is taken.

(b)
Figure 2.29 Moment of a force.
Assume, as shown in Figure 2.29(a), that a person is carrying a weight of magnitude F at a distance d1 from an arbitrary point A on the persons shoulder. The point A has no
significance except to establish some reference point about
which the moments can be measured. In Figure 2.29(b) a
schematic is shown with the force F applied on a beam at
a distance d1 from point A. This is an equivalent representation of the pictorial sketch in Figure 2.29(a), where the
moment of point A is
MA = F * d1
(a)

If the person now extends his arm so that the weight is at

distance d2 from point A, as shown in Figure 2.30(b), the
amount of physical energy needed to carry the weight is
increased. One reason for this is the increased moment
about point A due to the increased distance d2. The moment is now equal to that shown in Figure 2.30(a):
MA = F * d2

(b)
Figure 2.30 Moment of a force with
an increased moment arm.