PHYSICS

5N1460
LAETITIA MAC MAHON
MOMENTS

• A force may cause a body to

accelerate.
• But it may also cause it to turn or
rotate (turning effect).
WHICH IS EASIER

• Opening a door by pushing it near the handle or pushing it near the hinge?
• Loosening the nuts on your tyres with a long or short spanner?
 The moment of a force about
an axis is equal to the
magnitude of the force
multiplied by the distance
from the axis to the line of
MOMENT action if the force.

OF A
FORCE
Moment = force x
perpendicular distance.
CALCULATE THE MOMENT OF THE FORCE
APPLIED BY EACH PERSON.
CLOCKWISE AND ANTICLOCKWISE
MOMENTS

• COPLANAR: ON THE SAME PLANE: TRY AND ARRANGE SOME OF YOUR PENS/PENCILS AS PLANAR AND
AS NON PLANAR.
• If forces are coplanar the sum of the moments is their algebraic sum (i.e. you can add or subtract those
that would go clockwise or anticlockwise).
• 1 add the clockwise moments.
• 2 add the anticlockwise moments
• See problem 17 p. 118
EQUILIBRIUM

• Consider a body under coplanar parallel forces (like the meter stick above).
• At rest = equilibrium.
• If a body is in equilibrium
• The vector sum of all the forces in any direction is zero.
• The sum of the moments about any point is zero.
• Both must be true!
 • Calculate “W” if the stick is in equilibrium.
• NOTE: IT IS VERY LIKELY A QUESTION WILL COME TO CALCULATE
something like this.

QUESTION
LEVERS

• A rigid body which is free to rotate about a fixed point.

• The point is called the FULCRUM.
• The force exerted on the lever is called the EFFORT
• The lever exerts a force called the LOAD.
 COUPLES
TWO PARALLEL FORCES WITH THE SAME
MAGNITUDE ACTING IN OPPOSITE
DIRECTIONS.
TORQUE

• Since a couple has a turning effect : it has a moment.

• The moment of a couple is often called TORQUE.
• T = Fd
• Where F = one of the forces
• d = distance between them.
• Unit = N m
QUESTIONS

1. Two forces of magnitude 40N act in opposite directions on a steering wheel. If the perpendicular
forces distance between the forces is 0.5m, find the torque on the wheel.
2. One of the nuts holding a wheel on a car is to be tightened to a torque of 85 N m. A woman uses a
wrench of length 40cm to tighten then nut. She exerts two equal but opposite forces in the wrench.
Find the size of one of the forces.
3. The torque of the couple acting on an electric motor is 600 N m. If the perpendicular distance between
the forces is 10cm, find the magnitude of one of the forces.
4. Answers: 20 N m, 212.5 N, 6000 N.