9/29/21, 7:13 AM Resultant force - Wikipedia

Resultant force
In physics and
engineering, a resultant
force is the single force
and associated torque
obtained by combining a
system of forces and
torques acting on a rigid
body via vector addition.
The defining feature of a
resultant force, or
resultant force-torque, is
that it has the same effect
on the rigid body as the
original system of
[1]
forces. Calculating and
visualizing the resultant Graphical placing of the resultant force
force on a body is done
through computational
analysis, or (in the case of sufficiently simple systems) a free body diagram.

The point of application of the resultant force determines its associated torque. The term resultant
force should be understood to refer to both the forces and torques acting on a rigid body, which is why
some use the term ' resultant force-torque.

Contents
Illustration
Bound vector
Associated torque
Torque-free resultant
Wrench
References

Illustration
The diagram illustrates simple graphical methods for finding the line of application of the resultant
force of simple planar systems.

1. Lines of application of the actual forces and in the leftmost illustration intersect. After vector
addition is performed "at the location of ", the net force obtained is translated so that its line of
application passes through the common intersection point. With respect to that point all torques
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are zero, so the torque of the resultant force is equal to the sum of the torques of the actual
forces.
2. Illustration in the middle of the diagram shows two parallel actual forces. After vector addition "at
the location of ", the net force is translated to the appropriate line of application, whereof it
becomes the resultant force . The procedure is based on a decomposition of all forces into
components for which the lines of application (pale dotted lines) intersect at one point (the so-
called pole, arbitrarily set at the right side of the illustration). Then the arguments from the
previous case are applied to the forces and their components to demonstrate the torque
relationships.
3. The rightmost illustration shows a couple, two equal but opposite forces for which the amount of
the net force is zero, but they produce the net torque    where   is the distance between their
lines of application. This is "pure" torque, since there is no resultant force.

Bound vector
A force applied to a body has a point of application. The effect of the force is different for different
points of application. For this reason a force is called a bound vector, which means that it is bound to
its point of application.

Forces applied at the same point can be added together to obtain the same effect on the body.
However, forces with different points of application cannot be added together and maintain the same
effect on the body.

It is a simple matter to change the point of application of a force by introducing equal and opposite
forces at two different points of application that produce a pure torque on the body. In this way, all of
the forces acting on a body can be moved to the same point of application with associated torques.

A system of forces on a rigid body is combined by moving the forces to the same point of application
and computing the associated torques. The sum of these forces and torques yields the resultant force-
torque.

Associated torque
If a point R is selected as the point of application of the resultant force F of a system of n forces Fi
then the associated torque T is determined from the formulas

and

It is useful to note that the point of application R of the resultant force may be anywhere along the
line of action of F without changing the value of the associated torque. To see this add the vector kF to
the point of application R in the calculation of the associated torque,

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The right side of this equation can be separated into the original;formula for T plus the additional
term including kF,

because the second term is zero. To see this notice that F is the sum of the vectors Fi which yields

thus the value of the associated torque is unchanged.

Torque-free resultant
It is useful to consider whether there is a point of application R such that the associated torque is
zero. This point is defined by the property

where F is resultant force and Fi form the system of forces.

Notice that this equation for R has a solution only if the sum of the individual torques on the right
side yield a vector that is perpendicular to F. Thus, the condition that a system of forces has a torque-
free resultant can be written as

If this condition is satisfied then there is a point of application for the resultant which results in a pure
force. If this condition is not satisfied, then the system of forces includes a pure torque for every point
of application.

Wrench
The forces and torques acting on a rigid body can be assembled into the pair of vectors called a
wrench.[2]If a system of forces and torques has a net resultant force F and a net resultant torque T,
then the entire system can be replaced by a force F and an arbitrarily located couple that yields a
torque of T. In general, if F and T are orthogonal, it is possible to derive a radial vector R such that
, meaning that the single force F, acting at displacement R, can replace the system. If the
system is zero-force (torque only), it is termed a screw and is mathematically formulated as screw
theory.[3][4]

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The resultant force and torque on a rigid body obtained from a system of forces Fi i=1,...,n, is simply
the sum of the individual wrenches Wi, that is

Notice that the case of two equal but opposite forces F and -F acting at points A and B respectively,
yields the resultant W=(F-F, A×F - B× F) = (0, (A-B)×F). This shows that wrenches of the form W=
(0, T) can be interpreted as pure torques.

References
1. H. Dadourian, Analytical Mechanics for Students of Physics and Engineering, (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=yHIOjycr8H4C&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=analytical+dynamics+resultant+of+forc
es+and+torques&source=bl&ots=EktYFECIX2&sig=wK8JU2ozIhncDFzTVcmoJbPc2h4&hl=en&s
a=X&ei=mpMZULaIEMiWiALqt4CoCA&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=analytical%20dyna
mic%20resultant%20of%20forces%20and%20torques&f=false) Van Nostrand Co., Boston, MA
1913
2. R. M. Murray, Z. Li, and S. Sastry, A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation, (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=D_PqGKRo7oIC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=screw+theory+wrench&sou
rce=bl&ots=djPkCiYbpx&sig=pRSbDjrT2ZBBu3H_tknhlT4HbGY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=n5QZUM3sOq
LqiwL04oHYAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=screw%20theory%20wrench&f=fal
se) CRC Press, 1994
3. R. S. Ball, The Theory of Screws: A study in the dynamics of a rigid body, Hodges, Foster & Co.,
1876 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu9IAAAAMAAJ&ots=wwsm6pBaJa&dq=The%20theo
ry%20of%20screws%3A%20A%20study%20in%20the%20dynamics%20of%20a%20rigid%20bod
y&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false)
4. J. M. McCarthy and G. S. Soh, Geometric Design of Linkages. 2nd Edition, Springer 2010 (https://
books.google.co.uk/books?id=jv9mQyjRIw4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=geometric+design+of+link
ages&hl=en&ei=3L_5TcvZGaHV0QG2wMiDAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved
=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)

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