FORCES

ENGR. MARABELLE R. DEL PRADO

 FORCE
❖ An action of one body on another
❖ Considered as a push or pull exerted by one body on another
❖ This interaction can occur when there is direct contact between the
bodies such as a perform pushing a wall or it can occur through
distance when the bodies are physically separated.
❖ The complete specification of the action of a force must include its
magnitude, direction and point of application, and therefore we
must treat it as a vector.
 Effects of Action of a Force
❖ External Force - weight of the railroad wheels
❖ Internal Force - reaction of train rails
❑ (Ex. deformation depending on material properties)
 TYPES OF FORCES
CONCENTRATED FORCE Concentrated force
❖Represents the effects of a loading which
is assumed to act at one point

DISTRIBUTED FORCE

Distributed
❖ Force distributed over an area or over a line
 TYPES OF FORCES
CONCURRENT FORCES
❖ The line of action of two or more forces intersect at one point.
PRINCIPLE OF TRANSMISSIBILITY
EXAMPLE
“ A FORCE CAN BE APPLIED AT ANY POINT
ALONG ITS LINE OF ACTION WITHOUT
ALTERING THE RESULTANT EFFECTS OF
THE FORCE EXTERNAL TO THE RIGID BODY
ON WHICH IT ACTS”
 SCALAR AND VECTORS
❖ SCALAR
❑Only has magnitude
❑Example: Time, volume, mass

❖ VECTOR
❑Has magnitude and direction
❑Must obey the parallelogram law of addition
 VECTORS
❖ FREE VECTOR
❑ One whose action is not confined to or associated with a unique line in
space
❖ SLIDING VECTOR
❑ Unique line of action in space but not a unique point of application
❖ FIXED VECTOR
❑ One for which a unique point of application is specified
EXAMPLE NO. 1 VECTOR ADDITION
PARALLELOGRAM LAW OF COMBINATION
“ Two vectors A and B treated as free vectors may be replaced by
their equivalent vector R (Resultant)”
RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS

EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE NO. 1 VECTOR ADDITION
Determine the magnitude and
direction of the resultant force.
 EXAMPLE NO. 1 VECTOR ADDITION
(SOL.)
100 N θ = 90 + 15 +10 = 115 deg
15 deg.

10 deg. θ
150 N R

β
α
10 deg.

Note: Indicate in the figure

location of α.
Example 2: Component of a Force

Determine the magnitude of

the resultant force acting on
the plate and its direction,
measured counter-clockwise
from the positive x axis
Example 2: Component of a Force (Sol.)

θ
X
EXAMPLE NO. 3
Resolve the horizontal 600-lb force into
components acting along u and v axes and
determine the magnitudes of these
components
 EXAMPLE NO. 3 (Sol.)
120 deg 600 lb
30 deg
Fv
30 deg Fu