ETG Statics – Fall 2022

Module 2.1

Resultant of concurrent Forces

in a Plane:

Introduction & Triangular Method

Dr. Mohamed Khalafalla Ahmed
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 INTRODUCTION
• A system of several forces is concurrent when all forces acting on
the body have the same point of application.
• Or the lines of action of the forces intersect at a common point.

When all forces act in a

single plane, the forces
are said to be coplanar.

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Two Forces Three or more

5
INTRODUCTION

•Physical quantities such as length & temperature

require a magnitude for a complete description.
• They are called scalar quantities.

•Forces require magnitude& direction.

• They are called vector quantities

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 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION
OF FORCES: VECTORS
• Vector quantities can be represented graphically by arrows drawn
to an appropriate scale.

The length of the arrow

represents the magnitude.

The direction the arrow points

represents the direction.

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 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION
OF FORCES: VECTORS

• In print, a vector is commonly represented in boldface type (F).

• The same letter in lightface italic type (F) represents the

magnitude of the same vector.

• In longhand or typewritten copy, indicate a vector by an arrow

over the letter, or by underlining.

F F

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 RESULTANT OF CONCURRENT
FORCES: VECTORS
• It has been found by experiment that a concurrent force system
can be replaced by a single force or resultant.
• The resultant has the same physical effect as the force system
it replaces.

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 RESULTANT OF CONCURRENT FORCES:
VECTORS - Parallelogram Method

• The resultant of two concurrent forces can be obtained graphically

by constructing a parallelogram.
• The forces P and Q are drawn to scale.

• The forces acting at O form two

sides of the parallelogram.

• The diagonal that passes

through O is the resultant R.

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Parallelogram Method
• The parallelogram law states that two forces whose lines of
action intersect can be replaced by a single force.
• Which is the diagonal of a parallelogram that has sides equal
to the two forces

The parallelogram law is based

on experimental evidence only.

It cannot be proved or derived

by mathematics.

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 RESULTANT OF CONCURRENT
FORCES: VECTORS - Triangular Method

The construct shown at right suggests

that forces may also be added by
arranging vectors tip-to-tail.

The method shown at left

consists of moving either
force parallel to itself until the
tail coincides with the tip of
the fixed force.

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 Triangular Method
• The closing side of the triangle forms the resultant with the tail of
the resultant at the tail of the fixed force and the tip of the
resultant at the tip of the moved force.

As can be seen from the

construction, the order
in which the forces are
combined does not
change the resultant.

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Examples and problems start on textbook
page 30.
The two forces S and T act as shown in Fig. (a) at point O. Obtain their resultant
graphically by the parallelogram method and the triangular method.

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Example
A ship is pulled by two tugboats, as shown in Fig. (a). The resultant force is 3 kip
parallel to the x axis. Find the forces exerted by each tugboat graphically by the
triangular method.

The resultant of 3 kip is drawn to scale parallel to the x axis from O to V as shown in Fig. (b). The
line OT is drawn through O at an angle of 25° and the line VS through V at an angle of 35°. The two
lines intersect at point U. Force P is directed from O to U, and force Q is directed from U to V.
Measuring the magnitude of the forces, we obtain
P = 2.0 kip Q = 1.5 kip

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 Example
The two forces P and S act as shown in Fig. (a) at point A. Obtain their resultant by trigonometry.

• We use the triangular method,

arranging P and S in a tip-to-tail
fashion.
• The resultant R forms the third side of
the triangle [Fig. (b)].
• From the construction, angle C = 115°.
Applying the law of cosines yields

R = 12.30 kN

From the law of sines, we have

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 RESULTANT OF THREE OR MORE
CONCURRENT FORCES
• Shown here, the resultant of three forces P, Q, and S is determined
by repeated application of the triangular method.

First, add P and Q

to find the resultant R1,2

Then, add R1,2 and S

to find the resultant R
of the three forces.

Algebraic results could have been obtained by applying the trigonometry

of oblique triangles, first to triangle OPQ, then to triangle OQS.
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 RESULTANT OF THREE OR MORE
CONCURRENT FORCES

The polygon method, at right, can

be described in the following way.
Leave the fixed force P at point O.
Move Q parallel to itself until its tail
coincides with the tip of P.
Next, move S parallel to itself until
its tail coincides with the tip of Q.
The resultant R forms the closing
side of the polygon with the tail of
the resultant at the tail of the fixed
force P and the tip of the resultant
at the tip of the last moved force S.

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 RESULTANT OF THREE OR MORE
CONCURRENT FORCES

• The order of addition of forces

does not change the resultant,

as seen from the constructions

shown here.

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Examples and problems start on textbook
page 34.
The four forces (a) act at point P. Obtain their resultant graphically by the polygon
method.

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