Moment of a Force

force vector operations

components
Please make sure to understand/
review first the vector CROSS
MULTIPLICATION to have a full
understanding of the solutions
presented here.
Moment of a Force with
respect to a Point
 Objectives

• At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

–Describe moment of a force and compute the
magnitude of moment of a force about a
point.
 Outline
MOMENT
§ Moment of a force
- Moment of a force about a point
- Moment of a force about a line
§ Moment of a couple
§ Equivalent force systems
§4.1 Moment of a force.

• The moment of a force (or simply the moment) is a

measure of a force's ability to produce twisting, or
rotation, about a point.
• The moment is a vector: it has magnitude and
direction.

• Both scalar and vector descriptions of the moment

are possible.
 Consider using a wrench to twist a pipe:
Moment of a Force
 Let's consider more carefully the twisting action that F
produces about point O:
Moment of a Force

Observation: The force produces different twisting actions about different

axes through point O → moment is a vector.
 Evaluating moment – scalar approach

The moment of a force about point O is a vector M O
whose magnitude is MO given by
Moment of a Force

MO = F d
d
F = magnitude of the force.
d = perpendicular (shortest) distance
F
from the line of action of F to O.
d is called the moment arm.
MO has units of (force)(length).

The direction of M O is perpendicular to the plane containing F
and the moment arm.
 Evaluating moment – scalar approach

Assign a POSITIVE sign if

Moment of a Force

the effect of the force on

the object is to rotate it
COUNTERCLOCKWISE.

Assign NEGATIVE sign if the

rotation due to the force.
will be CLOCKWISE
 Evaluating moment – vector approach

The moment of a force about point O is a vector M O
Moment of a Force

given by   
MO  r  F

F = force vector.
 = position vector from point O to
r
anywhere on the line of action F
of force F .

Remark: We will use a 2bl-headed arrow to

represent moment vectors in figures.
 Comments
• A common error when evaluating the moment is to interchange the
order of the position vector and force vector in the cross product.
• The moment is a property of more than just the force.
• The moment depends on the force (magnitude, direction and
position of its line of action) and the location of the point about
which you want to determine the force.

• The moment of F about point A is

in general different than the
moment of F about point
 B: 
MA  MB
 Varignon's Theorem
A.k.a. The principle of moments
The moment of a force is equal to
the sum of the moments of the
vector components of the force.

E.g., The moment of F about A is:

This principle is most useful for scalar evaluations.

Another way of understanding Varignon's
Theorem is knowing these steps :

1. Resolve a force into its components

2. Get the moment of each component
with respect to a point
3. Solve for the sum of Moments
Moment of a Force with
respect to a Point (2D)
1: Determine the moment
of the 25 lb force about
point B.
 Using the SCALAR approach,

From the
figure we get
d=8cos 30o.

MB=+25 lb (8 in cos 30o )

from the
force F to
MB=173.21 lb in the point B.
using the SCALAR approach. and the Varignon’s
Theorem.

STEP 1: Resolve force into components.

STEP 2: Find the moment of each component with respect
to point B.

For Fx : MB= +Fx (8 in )

For Fy : MB= Fy (0)

from the
force Fx to
the point B.
STEP 3: Get the sum of each moment.

For Fx : MB= +Fx (8 in )

For Fy : MB= Fy (0)

MB=+25 lb cos 30o (8 in )

MB=173.21 lb in
An alternative approach is to TRANSFER the FORCE to
another point WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MAGNITUDE
AND DIRECTION.

STEP 1: Transfer force to

point C and resolve into
components.
 STEP 2: Find the moment of each component with respect
to point B.

For Fx : MB= Fx (0)

For Fy : MB= +Fy (13.86 in)

from the
STEP 3: Get the sum of each moment. force Fy to
MB=(25 lb cos 30o )(0 ) + (25 lb sin 30o )(13.86 in ) the point B.

MB=173.21 lb in
 Using the VECTOR approach, let’s consider the formula

STEP 1a: Express force in vector notation.


F   25 cos 30 î  25 cos 30 ĵ  lb
STEP 1b: Find a position in vector from POINT to line of

 
action of FORCE .
r BA  8 ĵ in
from B to any point where the force passes through like point A
STEP 2: Get the cross product

MB  r  F
i j k
 0 8 0
 25 cos 30  25 sin 30 0 NOTE: Please refer
to previous Learning
Video for the


M B  173.21 k̂ lb in  procedure on vector
CROSS PRODUCT 
2: Determine the
magnitude of moment of
the 25 lb force about
point B.
For 2D problems, the SCALAR approach and
Varignon’s Theorem are often used.

STEP 1: Resolve force into components.

STEP 2: Find the moment of each component with respect to point B.
STEP 3: Get the sum of each moment. Fy

MB= +Fx (8 in ) - Fy (3 in)

=(25 lb cos 30o )(8 in ) - (25 lb sin 30o )(3in) Fx

MB=135.71 lb in
On Moment of a Force with
respect to a Point
SCALAR approach
VECTOR approach