NSCI-6100 PHYSICS FOR

ENGINEERS 1

Equilibrium

Presented By:
Engr. Emmanuel A. Camba
Instructor-AMACC Batangas

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Equilibrium - Balanced
In physics, the condition of a system
when neither its state of motion nor its
internal energy state tends to change with
time. A simple mechanical body is said
equilibrium of it experiences neither linear
acceleration nor angular acceleration; unless
it is disturbed by an outside force, it will
continue in that condition indefinitely.

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 For a single particle, equilibrium arises if the
vector sum of all forces acting upon the
particle is zero. A rigid body (by definition
distinguished from a particle in having the
property of extention) is considered to be in
equilibrium if, in addition to the states listed
for the particle above, the vector sum of all
torques acting on the body equals zero so
that its state of rotational motion remains
constant.

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Equilibrium is said to be stable if small,
externally induced displacements from that
state. Examples include a weight suspended
by a spring or a brick lying on a level
surface. Equilibrium is unstable if the least
departure produces forces that tend to
increase the displacement. An example is a
ball bearing balanced on the edge of a razor
blade.

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 When all the forces which act upon an
object are balanced, then the object is said to
be in a state of equlibrium. The forces are
considered to be balanced if the rightward
forces are balanced by the leftward forces
and the upward forces are balanced by the
downward forces. This however does not
necessarily mean that all the forces are
equal to each other. Consider the two objects
pictured in the force diagram shown below.

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Note that the two objects are at equilibrium
because the forces which act upon them are
balanced; however, the individual forces are
not equal to each other. The 50 N forces is
not equal to the 30 N force.

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 If an object is at equilibrium, then the
forces are balanced. Balanced is the key
word that is used to describe equilibrium
situations. Thus, the net force is zero and the
acceleration is 0 m/s/s. Objects at
equilibrium must have an acceleration of 0
m/s/s. This extends from Newton's first law
of motion. But having an acceleration of 0
m/s/s does not mean the object is at rest. An
object at equilibrium is either ...

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• at rest and staying at rest, or
• in motion and continuing in motion with the
same speed and direction.
This too extends from Newton's first law of
motion.

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 If an object is at rest and
is in a state of equilibrium, then
we would say that the object is
at "static equilibrium." "Static"
means stationary or at rest.
A common physics lab is to hang an
object by two or more strings and to
measure the forces that are exerted at
angles upon the object to support its weight.

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 The state of the object is analyzed in
terms of the forces acting upon the object.
The object is a point on a string upon which
three forces were acting. See diagram at
right. If the object is at equilibrium, then the
net force acting upon the object should be 0
Newton. Thus, if all the forces are added
together as vectors, then the resultant force
(the vector sum) should be 0 Newton.

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(Recall that the net force is "the vector sum
of all the forces" or the resultant of adding all
the individual forces head-to-tail.) Thus, an
accurately drawn vector addition diagram
can be constructed to determine the
resultant.

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 The First Condition of Equilibrium

We may say that an object at rest is in

equilibrium or in static equilibrium. An object
at rest is described by Newton's First Law of
Motion. An object in static equilibrium has
zero net force acting upon it.

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The First Condition of Equilibrium is that the
vector sum of all the forces acting on a body
vanishes. This can be written as
 F = F1 + F2 + F3 + F4 + . . . = 0
where  ,the Greek letter sigma, again
means the summation of whatever follows --
the summation of the forces, in this case.

That's all there is!

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However, remember the following
=>> Ensure that you have included all the
forces. This means carefully draw a free
body diagram. Include gravity (the weight)
and all contact forces.
=>> Remember that forces are vectors.
That means that the first condition of
equilibrium, F  0
really means;
 Fx  0  Fy  0
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 Second Condition of Equilibrium
An object in equilibrium does not move
along a straight line -- it does not translate --
that means the sum of all the forces on it is
zero. That was the first condition of
equilibrium.
But an object in equilibrium also does not
rotate. That means the sum of all the
rotational forces on it is also zero. The sum of
all the torques on an object is equilibrium is
zero.

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This is the Second Condition of Equilibrium.
Tor ques that would rotate an object counter
clockwise may be taken as positive and
torques that would rotate an objectclockwise
may be taken as negative. Then we can
write this Second Condition of Equilibrium as

 0

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or we can calculate the sum of the clockwise
torques and set them equal to the sum of
the counterclockwise torques. Then we can
write this Second Condition of Equilibrium as

  

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Example Problems
1.) an object weighing 100lb and suspended
by a rop A, is pilled aside by a horizontal
rope B s that rope A makes angle 30°with
the vertial, find the tensions I the ropes A
and B.
A free body diagram is sketch of
isolated body which shows only the forces
acting upon the body.

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A= 114.94lb
30°
B
30° 60°
Ax
100lb
100lb

x 0 y0 B cos 60

Ay  100  0 .5 A
B  Ax  0
A sin 60  100
B  A cos 60 0.87 A  100
 0.5(114 .47lb)
B  A cos 60      1  0.87  57.47lb

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A 15kg box is to be supported by wire A at
an angle of 35°withe the horizontal and a
second wire B. Tension in wire A is safety
limited to 60N to place the box in equilibrium
at the posistion shown
TAy  TBy  147  0
35° θ
35° θ 60 sin 35  TBy  147  0
34041N  TBy  147  0
174N TBy  147  34.41
TBy  112 .59 N

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x 0
TBx  Tax  0
TBx  60 cos 25
TBX  49.15  0
TBx  49.15 N

TBorR  (TBx) 2  (TBy ) 2

TB  (49.15) 2  (112 .59) 2
TB  122.85 N
TBy
tan 
TBx
112 .59 N
tan 
49.15 N
Tan   2.29
  tan 1 2.29 θ=66.4

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EXERCISE:
Static Equilibrium

1.) An object is supported by two

ropes attatched to the ceiling.
a.)Draw the free body diagram.
b.)Solve for the mass of the object using the component
method. Clearly State the equation for 
Show all work.
the Fx 
and theFy

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2.) An 85 kg object is suspended from the ceiling and attached to a
wall.
a.) Draw the free-body diagram.
b.) Solve for the tension in each rope, using either component or
closed vector triangle method. Show all work.

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 END

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