FORCE DBS10012- ENGINEERING SCIENCE

CHAPTER 3.0: FORCE

At the end of this topic, students should be able to:

 define force and its units.
 state types of force.
 state the effects of force.
 define Newton’s First and Newton’s Second Law.
 differentiate between weight and mass.
 define force in equilibrium.
 calculate resultant force using resolution method.
 apply the concept of force in solving problems related to
equilibrium of forces.
 define moment of force and its unit.
 describe Principle of Moment of Force.
 apply the concept and formula of moment of force in
solving the related problems

CONCEPT OF FORCE

Force and its units

1) Force can be defined as a push or a pull.

2) A force will cause an object with mass to accelerate.
3) SI unit: Newton (N)
4) A force is a vector quantity.
5) A newton meter is used to measure force.

Types of Forces

Contact Force Non Contact Force

Frictional force Gravitational Force
Tensional force Electrical Force
Normal Force Magnetic Force
Air Resistance Force
Applied Force
Spring Force

Balanced Forces on an Object

1) When all the forces acting on an object are balanced, they cancel out one another and the
net force or resultant force is zero. The object behaves as if there is no force acting on it.
2) Therefore, a stationary object will remain stationary and a moving object will continue
moving with the same velocity in a straight line.

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3) Examples of balanced forces:

 The weight of the car is balanced by the reaction from the ground acting upwards on
the car at the tyres. The net force acting on the car is zero.
 Forces acting on an aeroplane causing it to move at constant velocity are balanced
forces. The lift force is equal to the weight of the aeroplane and the forward thrust is
equal to the drag. The net force acting on the aeroplane is zero.

Unbalanced Forces on an Object

1) When the forces acting on an object are not balanced, there will be net force acting on it.
2) This net force is known as the unbalanced force or the resultant force.
3) So, unbalanced forces cause a stationary object to move or moving object to accelerate.
4) For example, when a football player kicks a stationary football, a force acts on the ball
and causes it to move forward.

Effects of net force on an object

A force can cause the following:

a) a stationary object starts moving
b) the velocity of an object increases or decreases
c) the direction of an object changes.
d) the shape of an object changes.
e) the size of an object changes.

Newton’s First Law, ∑F = 0

 An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same
speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Newton’s Second Law, F = ma

 Newton’s Second Law states that when the net force acting on an object is not zero, the
object will accelerate at the direction of the exerted force.
 The acceleration is directly proportional to the net force and inversely proportional to the
mass.

𝐅
𝐚=
𝐦
 F is the net force in Newton,
 m is the mass of an object in
kg and
 a is its acceleration in m/s2.

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Example 1
Razif's car, which weighs 1,000 kg, is out of petrol. Razif is trying to push the car to a petrol
station, and he makes the car go 0.05 m/s2. Using Newton's Second Law, you can compute how
much force Razif is applying to the car.

Answer
F = ma
F = (1000)(0.05)
F = 50N

Example 2
Two forces of 6 N and 3 N act upon an object in opposite directions. What would be the
acceleration of this object if it has a mass of 100 kg?

Answer
𝐹
a=𝑚
(6−3)𝑁
a= 100 𝑘𝑔

a = 0.03𝑚/𝑠 2

Example 3

How much force was required to make a 2000kg car accelerate at 5m/s2?
Answer
F = ma
F = (2000)(5)
F = 1000N

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Example 4

A person throws a baseball at an acceleration of 25m/s2 with 12.5N of Force. What’s the mass of
the ball?
Answer
𝐹
m=𝑎
12.5
m= 25

m = 0.5kg

Weight and mass

Mass and weight are different in physics.

For example, your mass doesn't change when you go to the Moon, but your weight does.
Mass Weight
Definition: quantity of matter in a Definition: The force with which a
body. body is attracted towards the center of
the earth by the gravity.
Scalar quantity. Vector quantity.
Base quantity. Derived quantity.
SI unit: kilogram (kg) SI unit: Newton (N)
Its value is constant everywhere. Its value changes with gravitational
field strength, W=mg

Example 5
The gravitational field strength of the earth is 9.8 Nkg-1 and the gravitational field strength of the
moon is 1.6 Nkg-1. If a man weighs 130N on the moon, what is his weight on the earth?
Answer
On the moon, 𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔
130 = 𝑚(1.6)
130
𝑚= 1.6
𝑚 = 81.25𝑘𝑔
On the earth, 𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔
= (81.25)(9.8)
𝑊 = 796.25𝑁

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Forces in Equilibrium
 Forces acting on an object is said to be in equilibrium when the object is stationary or
moving with a constant velocity.
 There are TWO conditions that must be met for an object to be in equilibrium.
i. The resultant force, R acting on the object is zero.
ii. ∑Fy = 0 , Forces acting upward (∑F↑)= forces acting downward(∑F↓), ∑Fx = 0 ,
Forces acting on the right (∑F→)= forces acting on the left(∑F←)

For equilibrium, ∑ 𝐅𝐗 = 𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 ∑ 𝐅𝐲 = 𝟎

Resultant force,√(𝐅𝐗 )𝟐 + (𝐅𝐘 )𝟐 = 0

Resolution of Forces

You can break down forces into several components easily. For example, the force F1 can be
broken into two forces: Fx and Fy.

The following formulas are true: Fx= F1*cos A

Fy = F1*sin A

Magnitude of F1 = √(𝐅𝐗 )𝟐 + (𝐅𝐘 )𝟐

𝑭𝒚
Direction angle of F1 is 𝑨 = 𝒕𝒂𝒏−𝟏 ( )
𝑭𝒙
Notes:

cos 0 = 1, cos 90 = 0
sin 0 = 0, sin 90 = 1

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Example 6

The figure below shows three forces acting on a block. Calculate the resultant force.
4N
5N
1N

Answer

Fx  (4 cos 00 )  (5 cos 00 )  (1cos 00 ) Fy  (4 sin 00 )  (5 sin 00 )  (1sin 00 )

Fx  (4  5  1) N Fy  0 N
Fx  8N
Resultant force = (8) 2  (0) 2 = 8 N to the right

Example 7

Determine the magnitude and direction of resultant force produced from the system of forces
below by using the resolution method.

15kN

600

450
700
30kN

25kN

Force (kN) Direction Component of FX (kN) Component of Fy (kN)

15 600 -15cos 600 = -7.5 15sin 600 = 12.99

25 450 25cos 450 = 17.68 25sin 450 = 17.68
30 200 30cos20 = 28.19 -30sin 20 = 12.99
Ʃ FX = 38.37 Ʃ Fy = 20.41
The magnitude of resultant force is
FR  √(𝐅𝐗 )𝟐 + (𝐅𝐘 )𝟐
FR  (38.37) 2  (20.41) 2
FR  43.46kN
Direction of 𝑭𝑹 =The angle of resultant force
Fy
θ = tan−1 ( )
Fx

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20.41
  tan 1 ( )
38.37
  28.01o

Example 8
From Figure below, calculate FA and FB if the system in equilibrium

FA
0
32
FB

2.5 kN

Answer

FA cos 320+ (- FB cos 00)+(2.5k cos 900)= 0  0.85 FA - FB + 0 = 0  0.85 FA = FB

FA sin 320+FB sin 00- 2.5k sin 900 =0 0.53 FA+0- 2500=0  FA= (2500/0.53)

 FA = 4717 N

0.85 FA = FB  FB = 0.85(4717)  =4009 N

CONCEPT OF MOMENT OF FORCE

 The moments of the force is the tendency of force to toist or rotate an object.
 Moments may cause objects to rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise.

MOMENT = FORCE X DISTANCE or M=Fxd

Unit : Nm

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 Moments principal state that for equilibrium, the sum of the clockwise moments equals
the sum of the counter-clockwise moments, and the sum of the forces up equals the sum
of the forces down.

 Moments =  Moments AND  Force =  Force

 A child's seesaw, shown in, is an example of static equilibrium. An object in static

equilibrium is one that has no acceleration in any direction. While there might be
motion, such motion is constant.

Example 1
An 80-N force acts at the end of a 12-cm wrench as shown. Find the moment.

Answer
Moment = 𝐹𝑑

Moment = (80𝑠𝑖𝑛60)(12 × 10−2 )

= 8.31𝑁

Example 2
A weight of 10 N is placed on a model See-Saw a distance of 30 cm from the pivot. Where a
weight of 20 N should be placed to balance the See-Saw?

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Answer
 Moments (clockwise) =  Moments (anticlockwise)
(10 × 30 × 10−2 )= (20 × 𝑅)

20𝑅 = 3

𝑅 = 0.15𝑚

Centre of Gravitational for Equilibrium

Example 1:

Find the centre of gravitational ( x ).

i) Moment of force Method

∑ MCLOCKWISE = ∑ MCOUNTERCLOCKWISE

50x + 25(x − 1) = 100(6 − x)

50x + 25x − 25 = 600 − 100x

175x = 625

𝐱 = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟕𝐦
ii) Resultant Moment of Force Method

Resultant moment force = Total moment force acting

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50(0) + 25(1) + 100(1 + 5)

𝑥=
A 50 + 25 + 100
625
𝑥=
175
𝒙 = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟕 𝒎

Example 2:

Based on Figure below, determine the point the beam must be supported from A so it will remain
in equilibrium.
4 kN 5 kN 9 kN
6 kN

A B

2m 2.5 m 1.5 m
Answer

6k (0)  4k (2)  5k (4.5)  9k (6)

x=
6k  4k  5k  9k

84.5k
x=
24

x = 3.52m from A.

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