Chapter 5 Moment of a Force

5.1 The turning effect of a force

A Moments
1 A rigid body has a _________________ shape and size.

2 A force may turn a rigid body about a point called the _________________.

Experiment: Turning effect of a force

Top view

hinge (pivot)

distance d

door

pulling force F

 Attach a rubber sucker near the edge of a door. Hook a spring balance to the rubber
sucker.

 Pull the spring balance in the direction ______________ to the door.

 Increase the force until the door opens. Record the force F and its distance d from the

______________.

 Repeat step  for different distances d.

 Pull spring balance at an angle  to the door. Repeat step  for different angles .

Result:

(a) The smaller the distance d, the _________________ the force F needed to open the
door.

(b) The smaller the angle , the _________________ the force F needed to open the door.

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 3 The _________________ of force (or torque)  measures how large the turning effect
of a force is.

4 The moment of force is a vector. Its direction is either ___________________ or

___________________.

5 The magnitude of the moment of force is defined as

moment of force _____________________ of the force

= ____________ 
about a point from the point ( ________________ )

The unit of moment is the newton-metre ( _________ ).

6 Method to find the moment arm d of a force F from a point P:

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 P

 Draw a straight line along

P F.

 Draw a straight line

from P to the line in 
P perpendicularly. The length
of the second line is the
moment arm d.

F moment arm d

d  By considering the
right-angled triangle,
P
 d = l sin 
l

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 7 The moment of force  about a point P is also given by:

 = Fl sin 
l sin 
P
F: force that produces moment 
l
l: distance between P and the point where
the force acts on F
: angle between the directions along F and l

Checkpoint 1
In each case below, determine the magnitude and the direction of the moment produced by
force F about point P.
(a) (b)

40 cm
P
F = 30 N d

60
P
F = 30 N 40 cm

(c) (d)
130 F = 120 N
P
F = 50 N
1.5 m

1m
P

Solution
Apply  = Fd.
(a) Moment =
(b) Moment arm d =
 Moment =
(c)
130 F = 120 N
1.5 m
P
d

Moment arm d =

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  Moment =
(d) Moment =

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 B Addition of moments
1 When the positive turning direction is assigned, the ______________ moment about a
pivot can be found by adding all moments about that point.

Checkpoint 2
In each case below, find the net moment about point P.
(a) (b)

12 N 12 N
12 cm 10 cm
P
P

18 cm 20 cm

6N 6N

(c)

7 3
m m
P
70 60

20 N 15 N

Solution
Take the clockwise direction as positive.
(a) Net moment about P = 12  0.12  6  0.18 =
 The net moment about P is _______________ in a __________________ direction.
(b) Net moment about P =
 The net moment about P is ____________________________________________.
(c) Net moment about P =
 The net moment about P is ____________________________________________.

2 A couple forms when two _________________

F
and __________________ parallel forces apply
simultaneously to the same body and act / do not act in a couple
the same line.

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 3 The resultant force of a couple is _________________ while the moment provided by
the couple is given by

perpendicular distance between

moment of a couple = force 
____________________

Checkpoint 3
In which of the following figures do the two forces form a couple?
(a) (b)

3N

5N 4m
2 3
m m
P P
5N
4m

2N

(c) (d)

7N 12 N
circle
square
7N
P P
5m
1.5 m
12 N

Checkpoint 4
In each case below, find the moment of the couple about point P.
(a) (b)

F1 = 8 N

5 cm 15 cm
20 cm P P
F1 = 2 N
F2 = 2 N
25
110
F2 = 8 N

Solution

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 (a) Moment of the couple =
(b) Moment of the couple =

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 5.2 Equilibrium of a rigid body
A Conditions for equilibrium
1 A rigid body is in _________________ when the following two conditions are both
satisfied.

(a) Net force acting on the object = __________

(b) Net moment about any point = __________

Checkpoint 5
The figure below is the free-body diagram of an object which is in equilibrium.

F1 F3
20

65 B
A
C
1.2 m

F2

The magnitude of F2 and F3 are 50 N and 30 N respectively. The distance between A and B
is 1.2 m.
(a) Find the magnitude of F1.
(b) Find the distance d between B and C.
Solution
(a) Consider the horizontal direction.
Net force = 0
=0

 The magnitude of F1 is ________________.

(b) Take moment about A.
Net moment = 0
=0

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 B Centre of gravity
1 The centre of gravity (c.g.) of a rigid body is the point at which the _______________
of the body seems to act.

2 (a) The c.g. of a uniform rod is located at the _________________ of the rod.

(b) For a uniform object with two or more symmetric axes, its c.g. is located at the

_________________ of the axes.

symmetric axis
uniform rod

symmetric
c.g. c.g. axis

uniform rectangular block

3 For a rigid object of random shape, its c.g. could be located by the following way:

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 upward
force
point of
 When a rigid body is hung
suspension
freely from a point, only an upward
force and its weight act on it. Let it
rotate
c.g.
freely until it is
_______________.
rotate weight

upward
force point of  At this instant, the c.g. of
suspension the rigid body is below the point of
suspension. Draw a vertical line
passing through the point of
suspension. The c.g. lies on this
c.g. line.

weight

 Repeat by hanging the

body from another point. The c.g.
of the body
c.g.
is at the _______________
of the two lines drawn.

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 Checkpoint 6

4L 20L

X Y Z

Rod XZ is composed of two uniform rods XY and YZ. Both rods have the same mass M. The
lengths of XY and YZ are 4L and 20 L respectively.
(a) In the figure, label the c.g. of XY as C1 and the c.g. of YZ as C2. Also mark the
distance of C1 and C2 from Y.
(b) Find, in terms of L, the distance d of the c.g. of XZ from X.
Solution
(b) Consider the moment of weight about X when the rod is horizontal.
moment of weight of XZ = moment of weight of XY + moment of weight of YZ

Note that the c.g. divides / does not divide rod XZ into two parts of equal mass.

Checkpoint 7
normal force N1
X

30
Y

A cylinder placed on a rough horizontal floor supports one end of a uniform pole XY of
length 3 m and mass 5 kg. The other end of the pole rests on the floor such that the pole is
inclined at 30. The cylinder applies a normal force N1 on the pole. The whole system is in
equilibrium.
(a) Draw the free-body diagram for the pole.
(b) Find the magnitude of N1.
(c) Find the magnitude of the resultant force R acting on the pole by the horizontal floor.

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 Solution
(a)

(b) Take moment about Y.

Net moment = 0

 The magnitude of N1 is ______________.

(c) Consider the horizontal direction.
Net force acting on the pole = 0

Consider the vertical direction.

Net force acting on the pole = 0

Magnitude of R =

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 4 To find the condition for an object to topple, we can consider the instant just before
toppling.

What happens at the instant just

Situation
before toppling?

N1 = __________ as one leg of the

bench is about to leave the ground.
walk towards
one end

bench
N2
N1 W F

N acts at the edge as the bottom of

Note that the point
the luggage is about to leave the
where N acts on ground.
F the contact surface
may change with
pushing a F
the magnitude of F.
luggage

W
N
f
W
N
f

Checkpoint 8
c.g. of books

c.g. of the
plank
A plank B
supports fixed
on the wall 0.4 m 0.4 m 0.3 m

A simple wall shelf consists of a plank placed on two fixed supports A and B. Three
identical books are stacked up the plank as shown and the plank remains stationary. The
mass of the plank is 5 kg and the mass of each book is 1.2 kg.
(a) Draw the free-body diagram for the plank.
(b) Find the normal force acting on the plank by each support.

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 (c) At most how many books of the same mass can be put into a stack without making
the plank topple?

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 Solution
(a)

(b) Since the plank is in equilibrium, net moment about any point is zero, and the net
force acting on it is zero.

 The normal forces by supports A and B are _________ and _________

respectively.
(c) When the plank is about to topple, ___________________________________ is
zero.
Take moment about ________.

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  At most _________ books can be put into a stack without making the plank
topple.

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