RIGID BODIES

MOMENTS: EQUIVALENT
SYSTEM OF FORCES
Dr. Saloni Pandya
Assistant Professor
Navrachana University
Moment of force about a point

 The moment of force is a measure of its tendency to cause a

body to rotate about a specific point or axis.

 The moment of a force is equal to the product of the force and

the perpendicular distance of the point, about which the

moment is required and the line of action of the force.

Force  Action  Create circular
movement of any body about a
particular axis  Moment
M=F×r

Where,

P = Force acting on the body, and

r = Perpendicular distance between the point,

about which the moment is required and the

line of action of the force.

Tendency of a force F to make a
rigid body rotate about a fixed axis
perpendicular to the force depends
upon the distance of F from that axis,
as well as upon the magnitude of F
(a) A moment that tends to
produce a counterclockwise
rotation is Positive.

(b) a moment that tends to produce

a clockwise rotation is negative.
Vector Product or Cross Product

The vector product of two vectors P and Q is defined as the vector V

that satisfies the following conditions.

1. The line of action of V is perpendicular to the plane containing P and Q .

2. The magnitude of V is the product of the magnitudes of P and Q and of the sine of the angle θ

formed by P and Q (the measure of which is always 180° or less). We thus have:

Magnitude of a
vector product

If  = 0 or 180   Vector
Product = ?
3. The direction of V is obtained from the right-hand rule.

Close your right hand and hold it so that your fingers are curled in the same sense as the

rotation through θ that brings the vector P in line with the vector Q. Your thumb then

indicates the direction of the vector V.

PROPERTIES OF CROSS PRODUCT

1. P x Q  Q x P , hence , the cross products are not commutative.

P x Q = -(Q x P)

Example: Let us compute the vector product V = P x Q, where the vector P is of

magnitude 6 and lies in the zx plane at an angle of 30° with the x axis, and where the
vector Q is of magnitude 4 and lies along the x axis
2. P x (Q1 +Q2) = P x Q1 + P x Q2  Distributive Property 
GOOD

3. A third property, the Associative property  Doesnot hold good

(P x Q) x S = P x (Q x S)
Rectangular components of Moment of force

 r = Position vector of Point A

 Point A = Point of application of

force F = (x,y,z)

 Point O = Origin of the

rectangular co-ordinate system =

(0,0,0)
 i x j = 1*1 sin 90 = 1 = k

j x i = 1*1sin 90 = 1 = -k

k i
• i x j = 1 sin 90 = 1

• This product unit vector =k as vectors i, j and k are mutually

perpendicular to each other.

• It follows from the right-hand rule given in that the product j x i is

equal to -k

• The vector product of a unit vector with itself, such as i x i, is equal to

zero, since both vectors have the same direction

• The vector products of all the various possible pairs of unit vectors:
• The sign of the vector product of two unit vectors simply by arranging them

in a circle and reading them in the order of the multiplication

• The product is positive if they follow each other in counterclockwise order

and is negative if they follow each other in clockwise order.

• The vector product V of two given vectors P and Q in terms of
the rectangular components of these vectors.

• Resolving P and Q into components

Moment of a Force about a Point
• The force F is represented by a vector that defines its magnitude and

direction.

• However, the effect of the force on the rigid body depends also upon

its point of application A.

• The position of A can be conveniently defined by the vector r that

joins the fixed reference point O with A; this vector is known as the
position vector of A.

• The position vector r and the force F define the plane shown in Fig
Moment of a force
about a point O

Denoting by θ the angle between the lines of action of the position vector r and

the force F, we find that the magnitude of the moment of F about O is

The unit of moment of force  N.m

• Two forces F and F’ are equivalent if and only if, they are equal (i.e. have the

same magnitude and same direction ) and have equal moments about a given

point O.

• The necessary and sufficient conditions for two forces F and F’ to be

equivalent are thus,

• F = F’ and Mo = Mo’
Rectangular Components of Moment of Force

• If several forces F1, F2, . . . are applied at the same point A and if we denote
by r the position vector of A, it follows:

• Varignon’s theorem: The moment about a given point O of the resultant of

several concurrent forces is equal to the sum of the moments of the various
forces about the same point O

• The moment MO about O of a force F whose components are Fx, Fy, and Fz
and that is applied at a point A with coordinates x, y, and z.

• Since the components of the position vector r are respectively equal to the
coordinates x, y, and z of the point A, then,
 (x, y, z)

r = (x-0)𝑖Ƹ + (y-0) 𝑗Ƹ +(z-0) 𝑘෠

r = x𝑖Ƹ + y𝑗Ƹ +z𝑘෠ (0, 0, 0)

 𝑖 𝑗 𝑘
M1o = r x F1 = 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 = (yF1z – zF1y)i + (zF1x – xF1z)j + (xF1y – yF1x)k
𝐹1𝑥 𝐹1𝑦 𝐹1𝑧

𝑖 𝑗 𝑘
M2o = r x F2 = 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 = (yF2z – zF2y)i + (zF2x – xF2z)j + (xF2y – yF2x)k
𝐹2𝑥 𝐹2𝑦 𝐹2𝑧

𝑖 𝑗 𝑘
M3o = r x F3 = 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 = (yF3z – zF3y)i + (zF3x – xF3z)j + (xF3y – yF3x)k
𝐹3𝑥 𝐹3𝑦 𝐹3𝑧

𝑖 𝑗 𝑘
M4o = r x F4 = 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 = (yF4z – zF4y)i + (zF4x – xF4z)j + (xF4y – yF4x)k
𝐹4𝑥 𝐹4𝑦 𝐹4𝑧

Mo = M1o+M2o+M3o+M4o =
Writing Mo in vector form :

where the components Mx, My, and Mz

Rectangular components
of a moment
Moment about
point B
To compute the moment MB about an arbitrary point B of a force F applied at A we must
replace the position vector r in by a vector drawn from B to A.

This vector is the position vector of A relative to B, denoted by rA/B. Observing that rA/B can
be obtained by subtracting rB from rA, we write
Example 1: A force of 15 N is applied perpendicular to the edge of a door 0.8 m wide
as shown in Fig. Find the moment of the force about the hinge.

Fx

Fy
Example 2: A 100 kN vertical force is applied to the end of a lever, which is attached to a
shaft at O. Determine (a) the moment of the 100-kN force about O; (b) the horizontal force
applied at A that creates the same moment about O; (c) the smallest force applied at A that
creates the same moment about O; (d) how far from the shaft a 240 kN vertical force must act
to create the same moment about O.
Example 3: A force of 800 N acts on a bracket as shown.

Determine the moment of the force about B.

rA/B