HTC052

Lecture 3- Moment
 MOMENT FORCE
• Moment is a general term for something producing or
tending to produce rotation of a body about an axis or
a point.
 Same as Torque or Torsion, however these terms are
generally reserved for specific applications.
e.g. tightening a nut with a spanner, turning the steering
wheel of a car and spinning a tool all involve moments
 This rotational tendency is known as the moment M
of the force.

M=Fd

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 Units of a Moment
• N·m (Newton Meter) in the SI system
Properties of Moment

• Moments not only have

a magnitude, they also
have a sense to them.

• The sense of a moment

is either clockwise or
counter-clockwise
depending on which
way it will tend to make
the object rotate
• Moment about a point

The moment, M, of a force about a point provides a

measure of the tendency for rotation (sometimes
called a torque).
M=F*d
 Varignon’s Theorem
The moment of a force about any point is equal to the
sum of the moments of the components of the force
about the same point.

𝑀𝑜 = 𝑅𝑑 = −𝑝𝑃 + 𝑞𝑄
• When dealing with forces all of which act in a
given plane, we customarily speak of the
moment about a point.

By definition:
MA = F x d
Where;
MA = magnitude of the moment of the force about
point A. (N.m)
F = magnitude of the force producing the moment. (N, KN etc)
d = perpendicular distance from the point A to the line of
action of the force F. (m)
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 Calculating Moment
Occasionally, the length of the moment arm is
not known, and in order to calculate the
moment of the force, we will do one of two things:

1. Calculate the length of moment arm, &

multiply by known force; or
2. Calculate components of the force, and
multiply by known perpendicular moment
arms

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Example 1: Calculation of both components
Determine the tension, T in the tractor brake cable
when a force of 200N is applied to the pedal

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Analysis:
Take Mp
∑Mp =0
∑M(CW) = ∑M(CCW)
FH(Cos60)+FV(Sin60) = T(0.1)
200cos600(0.2)+200sin600(0.6) = T(0.1)
T = 1239.2N

i.e. the tension in the cable is 1239.2N

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 Example 2: Calc of the length of Moment arm
What is the tension
in the bolt, T, supporting
the tractor seat when
it is supporting a 100kg
operator?
Assume g = 10m/s2

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 Analysis:
1st: Calculate M arm d
0.3(cos600)=0.15mm
2nd: M(pivot)
∑Mp =0
∑M(CW) = ∑M(CCW)
T(0.1) = 1000(0.15)
T = 1500N

150
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 Example 3:
Calculate the magnitude of the moment about the base
point O of the 600N force.

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