Applied Mechanics

Chapter 2 : Laws of forces

Tushar Kiran
Department of Mechanical Engineering
 Detailed Contents
 Definition of force, measurement of force in SI units, its representation, types of force: Point
force/concentrated force & Uniformly distributed force, effects of force, characteristics of a force
 Different force systems (coplanar and non-coplanar), principle of transmissibility of forces, law of
superposition.
 Composition and resolution of coplanar concurrent forces, resultant force, method of
composition of forces, laws of forces, triangle law of forces, polygon law of forces - graphically,
analytically, resolution of forces, resolving a force into two rectangular components.
 Free body diagram
 Equilibrant force and its determination
 Lami's theorem (concept only)
 Type of Load, supports, Beams- analysis for simply supported, cantilever beams
Force

 It is an external agency (push or

pull) which can change or tends to
change the state of rest or
uniform motion of a body. It is a
vector quantity and has following
characteristic:
 magnitude,
 direction,
 point of application and
 line of action.
 Unit of Force

 There are two commonly used units of forces : Absolute unit and Gravitational Units
 Absolute Units : are based on Newton’s Second Law of Motion ( i.e. F = m*a) and are also called scientific units
 In FPS (Poundal) : 1 Poundal = 1 Pound * 1 ft/s2
 In CGS (Dyne) : 1 Dyne = 1 gm * 1 cm/s2
 In MKS or SI (Newton) : 1 Newton = 1 Kg* 1 m/s2 = 105 Dyne
 Gravitational Units : depend upon the weight of the body (i.e. force by which a body is attracted towards
earth)
 FPS : Pound weight (lb wt or lgf)
 CGS : Gram weight (gmf)
 MKS : Kilogram weight (kgf)

 Conversion
 1 lb wt = 32.3 Poundals
 1 gmf = 981 Dyne
 1 Kgf = 9.81 N
Representation of force
 Vector Representation : Consider
a force of 15 N acting on a body.
This can be represented as shown
in figure. Here line ab shows the
magnitude of force drawn to
scale.
 Bow’s Notation : Capital letters are
put on the sides of line of action of
force in clockwise or anti clockwise
direction. In figure the 10 N force is
called AB and 15 N force is called
BC.
 Types of Forces
 Tensile Force : tends to increase the length
 Compressive force : tends to reduce the
length
 Shear Force : tends to slide one surface over
the other
 Point Force / Concentrated force : applied at a
single point
 Uniformly distributed force :applied uniformly
over a span or length
Effect of Force

 A force acting on an object may cause the object

 to change shape,
 to start moving,
 to stop moving,
 to accelerate or deaccelerate.
 When two objects interact with each other they exert a force
on each other, the forces are equal in size but opposite in
direction.
 System of forces

A group or collection of forces acting together on a body in one plane or more plane forms a system of
forces. The magnitude and direction of forces may be different. These are classified on the basis of plane
of action, line of action and point of application.
System of
forces

Non
Coplanar
Coplanar
Forces
Forces

Non Non Non

Concurrent Collinear Parallel Non Parallel Concurrent Parallel Non Parallel
Concurrent Collinear Concurrent

Like Unlike Unlike

Like Parallel
Collinear Collinear Parallel
System of forces
Laws of Forces
Principle of Superposition of
forces
If two forces are acting simultaneously on
a block, the effect of these forces is same
as if the resultant of these two forces (i.e.
R) is applied.
Principle of Transmissibility of a
force
The point of application of a force on a
rigid body can be changed along the
same line of action maintaining the same
magnitude and direction without
affecting the effect of the force on the
body.
Laws of Forces

Principle of Physical
Independence of Force : it
states that each one of the
force of the system of force
acting simultaneously on a body
will produce same effect that it
would have done alone i.e. the
action of forces on bodies are
independent.
Composition and resolution of coplanar
concurrent forces
Resultant of a system of force is a single force whose effect on the body is same as
that of system of force.

Methods of calculating resultant

Graphical Method Analytical Method

Trigonometric
Triangle Law of Forces Polygon Law of Forces Resolution Method Method (Law of
Parallelogram)
Analytical Method (Resolution Method)

The splitting of given force into horizontal and vertical components i.e. along any
two perpendicular axis without changing its effect on body is called resolution of
forces.
 
The magnitude of resultant of two or more forces
can be found using the following :

And angle of resultant with horizontal

is algebraic sum of x component of forces

is algebraic sum of y component of forces
Analytical Method (Trigonometric Method)

Law
  of parallelogram of force : if two forces F1 & F2 are acting at a point and are
represented by the sides of parallelogram (i.e. in magnitude & direction) then their
resultant is represented by diagonal of the parallelogram both in magnitude and direction.
is the angle between F1 and F2 and is the angle between resultant and F1

Case 1 : If ; and
Case 2 : If ; and
Case 3 : If ; and
Graphical Method ( Triangle Law of Forces)

If two coplanar and concurrent forces acting simultaneously on a body are

represented in magnitude and direction by the sides of a triangle taken in order
then their resultant is represented by the third side taken in opposite order.
Graphical Method ( Polygon Law of Forces)

If any number of coplanar and concurrent forces acting simultaneously on a body

are represented in magnitude and direction by the sides of a polygon taken in order
then their resultant is represented by the Closing side of the polygon taken in
opposite order.
Resolution of Forces in any two direction

Let  R be the force along OC which need to be resolved into two components F1 along OA
and F2 along OB. Let R (OC) make angle of with F1(OA) and angle with F2 (OB). Let us
complete the parallelogram OACB. The alternate angle are equal i.e. . So, .
Applying Sine Rule in triangle OAC
[here AC= OB],
Hence;

Therefore, and
Free Body Diagram
It is the diagram in which the body under consideration is free from all the contact
surface and all the forces acting on it i.e. from surrounding.
Equilibrant force and its determination

A body is said to be in equilibrium when the resultant of all

coplanar – concurrent forces acting on it is zero. In equilibrium
the sum of all horizontal and vertical component is zero. The
Forces whose resultant is zero are called equilibrium forces.
Determination is done using :
 Converse Law Of Forces
 Lami’s Theorem
Lami’s Theorem

If three coplanar concurrent forces acting at a point be in equilibrium then each

force is proportional to the size of the angle between the other two forces.
Converse Law Of Forces
Converse of the Triangle Law of
Forces : If three forces acting at a
point and they can be represented in
magnitude and direction by three
sides of triangle taken in order then
the force are in equilibrium.
Converse of the Polygon Law of
Forces : if any number of forces acting
at a point and they can be
represented by the sides of a polygon
in magnitude and direction taken in
order then the force will be in the
equilibrium.
Types of Beams

A beam is a long and a straight piece with a uniform cross-section characterized by

the type of supports. These beams are used to support different type of loads.
Types of Load
 Types of Supports

Fixed Support Hinged Support Roller Support

Simple
Support
Thank you