STATICS OF RIGID BODIES:

FORCES IN SPACE
EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

This material is for use and distribution only within the

EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS
 
FORCES IN SPACE
THE RESULTANT OF z
CONCURRENT FORCES
ACTING ON A PARTICLE IN
SPACE WILL ALSO ACT AT 𝛼 𝛽
THE SAME PARTICLE.
𝜃
y
x
ONLY THE MAGNITUDE
AND DIRECTION ARE TO
BE DETERMINED.
FORCES IN SPACE
THE RESULTANT OF z
FORCES IN 3-D SPACE CAN
BE DETERMINED USING y-z PLANE
PARALLELOGRAM LAW/ 𝛼 x-z𝛽PLANE
TRIANGLE LAW.
y
RECTANGULAR x
x-y PLANE
COMPONENTS CAN ALSO BE
USED TO GET RESULTANT.
FORCES IN SPACE y-z PLANE
𝛼

 FROM THE FORCE POLYGON, z

THE RESULTANT CAN BE
DRAWN FROM THE TAIL OF THE
FIRST FORCE TO THE HEAD OF 𝑹 x-z𝛽PLANE
THE LAST FORCE.

 THE MAGNITUDE AND y

x-y PLANE
DIRECTION OF THE RESULTANT x
CAN BE COMPUTED USING
SUCCESSIVE USE OF THE
TRIANGLE LAW.
RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
THE RECTANGULAR
⃗ z
COMPONENTS OF A FORCE 𝑭𝒛
CAN BE DETERMINED 𝜽𝒛 ⃗
𝑭
EASILY DEPENDING ON THE ⃗
GIVEN CHARACTERISTICS 𝑭𝒚
⃗ y
OF THE FORCE. 𝑭𝒙 𝜽 𝒙𝒚
⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
CASE I: GIVEN THE
MAGNITUDE AND TWO x
ANGLES
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
z

⃗ z
𝑭𝒛
⃗
𝑭 𝜽𝒛 ⃗
𝑭
⃗
𝑭𝒛 ⃗
𝑭𝒚
𝐹 𝑧 =𝐹𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃 𝑧 ) 𝜽𝒛 ⃗ y
𝑭𝒙 𝜽 𝒙𝒚
⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
xy
⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
x
𝐹 𝑥𝑦 =𝐹𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃 𝑧 )
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
x

⃗ z
𝑭𝒛
⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚 𝜽𝒛 ⃗
𝑭
⃗
𝑭𝒙 ⃗
𝑭𝒚
𝐹 𝑥 =𝐹 𝑥𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃 𝑥𝑦 ) ⃗
𝑭𝒙 𝜽 𝒙𝒚
y

𝜽 𝒙𝒚 ⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
y
⃗
𝑭𝒚
x
𝐹 𝑦 =𝐹 𝑥𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃 𝑥𝑦 )
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
FROM PLANE z-xy:

⃗ z
𝑭𝒛
𝐹 𝑧 =𝐹𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃 𝑧 ) 𝜽𝒛 ⃗ 𝐹 𝑦 =𝐹𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃 𝑧 )𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃𝑥𝑦 )
𝑭
FROM PLANE x-y: ⃗
𝑭𝒚
⃗ y
𝑭𝒙 𝜽 𝒙𝒚
𝐹 𝑥 =𝐹𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( 𝜃 𝑧 ) 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃 𝑥𝑦 ) ⃗
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
ESULTANT IN VECTOR FORM:
⃗
𝑭 =𝑭 𝒙 𝒊+ 𝑭 𝒚 𝒋 +𝑭 𝒛 𝒌 x

√ 𝟐 𝟐
𝑭 = ( 𝑭 𝒙 ) +( 𝑭 𝒚 ) +( 𝑭 𝒛 )
𝟐
UNIT VECTOR
A UNIT VECTOR IS A DIMENSIONLESS
VECTOR WITH A MAGNITUDE OF z
EXACTLY 1 AND POINTS IN A
PARTICULAR DIRECTION. ^
𝒌
^
𝒋
UNIT VECTORS LACK UNITS AND y
ARE USED TO SPECIFY A DIRECTION ^
𝒊
AND HAVE NO OTHER PHYSICAL
SIGNIFICANCE. THE UNIT VECTORS
ALONG THE X, Y AND Z AXES ARE
LABELED RESPECTIVELY. x
UNIT VECTOR
THE SYMBOLS , ̂ REPRESENT UNIT z
VECTORS. THEY FORM A SET OF
MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR
VECTORS IN A RIGHT-HANDED ^
𝒌
COORDINATE SYSTEM. THE ^
𝒋
MAGNITUDE OF EACH UNIT y
VECTOR IS 1. ^
𝒊
|𝑖^|=| ^𝑗|=|𝑘^|=1
x
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
CASE II: GIVEN THE
⃗ z
MAGNITUDE AND THREE 𝑭𝒛
ABSOLUTE ANGLES ⃗
𝜽𝒛 𝑭
FOR THE COMPONENT OF FORCE F:
⃗
𝑭𝒚
𝑭 𝒙 =𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒙 ) 𝜽𝒚 y
RESULTANT IN VECTOR FORM:⃗
𝑭𝒙 𝜽𝒙
𝑭 𝒚 = 𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒚 )
⃗
𝑭 =𝑭 𝒙 𝒊+ 𝑭 𝒚 𝒋 +𝑭 𝒛 𝒌
𝑭 𝒛 =𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒛 )

WHERE: cos θx, cos θy x

AND cos θz ARE
DIRECTION COSINES
PROBLEM 08
REFERRING TO FIGURE, IF
FORCE A IS EQUALS TO 500kN,
DETERMINE
(1) THE RECTANGULAR
REPRESENTATION OF THE
POSITION VECTOR A; AND
(2) THE ANGLES BETWEEN A
AND EACH OF THE
POSITIVE COORDINATE
AXES.
 z x FOR THE RESULTANT VECTOR:
⃗
𝐹 =191 .5111 𝑖+160 . 6969 𝑗 +433 . 0127 𝑘
𝑭 𝒙𝒚 ¿ 250 𝑘𝑁
𝑭𝒛
𝟓𝟎𝟎𝒌𝑵
𝑭𝒙
𝟒𝟎°
√ 2 2
𝐹= ( 𝐹 𝑥 ) + ( 𝐹 𝑦 ) +( 𝐹 𝑧 )
2

√
𝟑𝟎° 2 2
𝐹 = ( 191 .5111 𝑘𝑁   ) + ( 160 . 6969
2
𝑘𝑁   )
y
+ ( 433 . 0127 𝑘𝑁 )
xy 𝑭𝒚
𝑭 𝒙𝒚 𝐹=499.9999𝑘𝑁 ≈ 500 𝑘𝑁
FOR Fz: FOR Fx: z
𝑭𝒛
𝐹𝑧 𝐹𝑥
cos ( 30 )= cos ( 40 ) =
500 𝑘𝑁 250 𝑘𝑁 𝟑 𝟎° 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝒌𝑵
𝐹 𝑧 =433 . 0127 𝑘𝑁 𝐹 𝑥 =191 . 5111𝑘𝑁 𝑭𝒚
y
FOR Fxy: FOR Fy: 𝑭𝒙
𝐹 𝑥𝑦 𝐹𝑦 𝟒𝟎 °
sin ( 30 )= sin ( 40 )= 𝑭 𝒙𝒚
500 𝑘𝑁 250 𝑘𝑁
𝐹 𝑥𝑦 =250 𝑘𝑁 𝐹 𝑦 =160 . 6969 𝑘𝑁
x
 z x
FOR THE RESULTANT VECTOR:
𝑭 𝒙𝒚 ¿ 250 𝑘𝑁
⃗
𝐹 =191.5111 𝑖+160.6969 𝑗 +433.0127 𝑘
𝟓𝟎𝟎𝒌𝑵
𝑭𝒛 𝑭𝒙
𝟒𝟎° 𝐹 𝑥 =191.5111 𝑘𝑁
𝟑𝟎°
𝐹 𝑦 =160.6969 𝑘𝑁
xy y
𝑭 𝒙𝒚 𝑭𝒚 𝐹 𝑧 =433.0127 𝑘𝑁
R THE ABSOLUTE ANGLE: 𝑭𝒛
z

𝐹 𝑥 =𝐹𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃𝑥 ) 191.5111 𝑘𝑁=(500 𝑘𝑁 )𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃 𝑥 )

𝟑 𝟎° 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝒌𝑵
𝜃 𝑥 =67.479°
𝑭𝒚
𝐹 𝑦 =𝐹𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃 𝑦 ) 160.6969 𝑘𝑁=(500 𝑘𝑁 )𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃 𝑦 ) y
𝑭𝒙
𝜃 𝑦 =71.2528 ° 𝟒𝟎 °
𝑭 𝒙𝒚
𝐹 𝑧 =𝐹𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃 𝑧 ) 433.0127 𝑘𝑁=(500 𝑘𝑁 )𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜃𝑧 )
𝜃 𝑧 =30 °
PROBLEM 09

DETERMINE THE
RESULTANT OF THE
FORCES ACTING ON
THE HOOK.
 z
𝑭 𝟏=𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑭𝟏𝒛 z
5
3
4
𝑭𝟏 𝒚 y
z

𝑭 𝟐 𝒙𝒚
xy
𝟒𝟓 ° y
x

𝑭𝟐𝒛
𝑭 𝟐=𝟖𝟎𝟎𝒍𝒃
y

𝑭 𝟐 𝒙𝒚
𝑭𝟐 𝒚

𝟑𝟎 °
𝑭𝟐 𝒙 x
 z z
OR THE COMPONENT OF F1=500lb
𝑭 𝟏=𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃 𝑭 𝟏=𝟓𝟎𝟎𝒍𝒃
𝐹 1 𝑥 =0 𝑭 𝟏𝒛
𝑭 𝟏𝒛 5
5 3
3
4
BY SIMILAR TRIANGLE: y
4 𝑭𝟏 𝒚 𝑭𝟏 𝒚 y
4 𝐹 1𝑦
=
5 500 𝑙𝑏
𝐹 1 𝑦 =400 𝑙𝑏 z

3 𝐹1 𝑧
=
5 500 𝑙𝑏 x y

𝐹 1 𝑧 =300 𝑙𝑏
OR THE COMPONENT OF F2=800lb:
FOR THE COMPONENT F2=800lb:
𝐹 2𝑧 𝐹 2𝑥
sin ( 45 )= cos ( 30 )=
800 𝑙𝑏 565.6854 𝑙𝑏

𝐹 2 𝑧 =−565.6854 𝑙𝑏 𝐹 2 𝑥 =489.8979 𝑙𝑏
𝐹 2 𝑥𝑦 𝐹2𝑦
cos ( 45 ) = sin ( 30 )=
800 𝑙𝑏 565.6854 𝑙𝑏
𝐹 2 𝑥𝑦 =565.6854 𝑙𝑏 𝐹 2 𝑦 =282.8427 𝑙𝑏

z y z

𝑭 𝟐 𝒙𝒚 𝑭 𝟐 𝒙𝒚
xy 𝑭𝟐 𝒚
𝟒𝟓 °
x y
𝟑𝟎 °
𝑭𝟐𝒛
𝑭 𝟐=𝟖𝟎𝟎𝒍𝒃 𝑭𝟐 𝒙 x
R THE COMPONENT FOR
F1=500lb:
THE COMPONENT F2=800lb:
FOR THE RESULTANT FORCE:
𝐹 1 𝑥 =0 𝐹 2 𝑥 =+489 .8979 𝑙𝑏 ⃗
𝑅=489 . 8979 𝑖+682 . 8427 𝑗 −265 .6854 𝑘

√
𝐹 1 𝑦 =+400 𝑙𝑏 𝐹 2 𝑦 =+282 .8427 𝑙𝑏 2 2
𝑅= ( 489 . 8979 𝑙𝑏   ) + ( 682 .8427 𝑙𝑏 )
𝐹 1 𝑧 =+300 𝑙𝑏 𝐹 2 𝑧 =−565 . 6854 𝑙𝑏 + ( − 265 . 6854 𝑙𝑏 )
2

𝑅=881 .3982𝑙𝑏
HE COMPONENT OF THE RESULTANT FORCE:
z
𝑅 𝑥 =∑ 𝐹 𝑥
𝑅 𝑥 =0+489 . 8979 𝑙𝑏
𝑅 𝑥 =489 . 8979𝑙𝑏

𝑅 𝑦 =∑ 𝐹 𝑦 𝑅 𝑦 =400 𝑙𝑏+282 . 8427 𝑙𝑏

𝑅 𝑦 =682 . 8427 𝑙𝑏 y
x
𝑅 𝑧 =∑ 𝐹 𝑧 𝑅 𝑧 =300 𝑙𝑏+(−565 . 6854 𝑙𝑏)
𝑅 𝑧 =−265 .6854 𝑙𝑏
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
⃗ z
CASE III: GIVEN THE 𝑭𝒛
MAGNITUDE AND TWO POINTS
WHERE FORCE PASSES 𝐸(𝑥 𝑒 , 𝑦 𝑒 , 𝑧 𝑒)
⃗
𝑭 ⃗
FOR THE COMPONENT OF FORCE:
R THE FACTORS OF COMPONENT: 𝑭𝒚
𝑑𝑥
y
𝑑 𝑥 =𝑥𝑒 − 𝑥 𝑜 𝐹 = (𝐹) 𝑂(𝑥𝑜 , 𝑦 𝑜 , 𝑧 𝑜 )
𝑥
𝑑
𝑑 𝑦= 𝑦 𝑒 − 𝑦 𝑜 ⃗
𝑭𝒙
𝑑𝑦
𝐹 𝑦 = (𝐹 )
𝑑 𝑧 =𝑧 𝑒 − 𝑧 𝑜 𝑑
𝑑𝑧 x
RESULTANT IN VECTOR FORM:
𝒅=√ 𝒅 𝒙 +𝒅 𝒚 +𝒅 𝒛 𝐹 𝑧 = (𝐹 )
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
𝑑 ⃗
𝑭 =𝑭 𝒙 𝒊+ 𝑭 𝒚 𝒋 +𝑭 𝒛 𝒌
 RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
FOR THE
R THE COMPONENT OF FORCE F: COMPONENT OF FORCE:
𝑑𝑥 ⃗ z
𝐹 𝑥= ( 𝐹 ) 𝑭𝒛
𝑭 𝒙 =𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒙 ) 𝑑
𝜽 𝒛⃗
𝐸(𝑥 𝑒 , 𝑦 𝑒 , 𝑧 𝑒)
𝑑𝑦 𝑂 (𝑥𝑜 , 𝑦 𝑜 , 𝑧 𝑜 ) 𝑭 ⃗
𝑭𝒚
𝑭 𝒚 = 𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒚 ) 𝐹 𝑦 = (𝐹 )
𝑑 𝜽𝒚 y
𝜽𝒙
𝑑𝑧
𝐹 𝑧 = (𝐹 )
⃗
𝑭𝒙
𝑭 𝒛 =𝑭𝒄𝒐𝒔 ( 𝜽 𝒛 ) 𝑑
x
⃗
𝑭 =𝑭 𝒙 𝒊+ 𝑭 𝒚 𝒋 +𝑭 𝒛 𝒌
ESULTANT IN VECTOR FORM:
PROBLEM 10

REPLACE THE THREE FORCES ACTING

ON THE GUY WIRES BY A SINGLE,
EQUIVALENT FORCE ACTING ON THE
flAGPOLE.
Use T1 = 200 lb, T2 = 400 lb, and T3 = 350 lb.
R THE COMPONENT OF T1=200lb:
𝑑 𝑥 =𝑥𝑒 − 𝑥 𝑜 ¿ 3 −0 𝑑 𝑥 =3 z

𝑑 𝑦 = 𝑦 𝑒 − 𝑦 𝑜 ¿ −2 −0 𝑑 𝑥 =−2 𝑂(0,0,0)
𝑑 𝑧 =𝑧 𝑒 − 𝑧 𝑜 ¿ −6 − 0 𝑑 𝑥 =−6

𝑑= √ 𝑑 +𝑑 +𝑑 √
x
2 2 2 2 2 2 y
𝑥 𝑦 𝑧
¿ ( 3 ) + ( −2 ) + ( − 6 )
𝑑=7 𝐶(− 4,0, −6)
𝑑𝑥 3
𝑇 1 𝑥= ( 𝐹 )¿ (200 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 1 𝑥 =85.7143 𝑙𝑏
𝑑 7 𝐸(3 ,− 2,− 6) 𝑻 𝟑=𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑑𝑦 𝐵(0,3, − 6)
−2
𝑇 1 𝑦 = (𝐹 )¿ (200 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 1 𝑦 =−57.1429 𝑙𝑏
𝑑 7 𝑻 𝟏=𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑑𝑧 𝑻 𝟐=𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
−6
𝑇 1 𝑧 = ( 𝐹 )¿ (200 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 1 𝑧 =−171.4286 𝑙𝑏
𝑑 7
R THE COMPONENT OF T2=400lb:
𝑑 𝑥 =0 − 0 𝑑 𝑥 =0 z

𝑑 𝑦 =3 −0 𝑑 𝑦 =3 𝑂(0,0,0)
𝑑 𝑧 =−6 − 0 𝑑 𝑧 =−6

𝑑= √ ( 0 ) + ( 3 ) + ( − 6 )
2 2 2 x y

𝑑=3 √ 5
𝐶(− 4,0, −6)
𝑑𝑥 0
𝑇 2 𝑥= ( 𝐹 )¿ (400 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 2 𝑥 =0
𝑑 3 √5 𝐸(3 ,− 2,− 6) 𝑻 𝟑=𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝐵(0,3, − 6)
𝑑𝑦 3 𝑇 2 𝑦 =178.8854 𝑙𝑏
𝑇 2 𝑦 = ( 𝐹 )¿ (400 𝑙𝑏)
𝑑 3 √5 𝑻 𝟏=𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑻 𝟐=𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑑𝑧 −6
𝑇 2 𝑧 = ( 𝐹 )¿ (400 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 2 𝑧 =− 357.7709 𝑙𝑏
𝑑 3 √5
R THE COMPONENT OF T3=350lb:
𝑑 𝑥 =− 4 − 0 𝑑 𝑥 =− 4 z

𝑑 𝑦 =0 −0 𝑑 𝑦 =0 𝑂(0,0,0)
𝑑 𝑧 =−6 − 0 𝑑 𝑧 =−6

𝑑= √ ( −4 ) + ( 0 ) + ( − 6 )
2 2 2 x y

𝑑=2 √13
𝐶(− 4,0, −6)
𝑑𝑥 −4
𝑇 3 𝑥= ( 𝐹 ) ¿ (350 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 3 𝑥 =− 194.1451𝑙𝑏
𝑑 2 √ 13 𝐸(3 ,− 2,− 6) 𝑻 𝟑=𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝐵(0,3, − 6)
𝑑𝑦 0 𝑇 3 𝑦 =0
𝑇 3 𝑦 = (𝐹 )¿ (350 𝑙𝑏)
𝑑 2 √ 13 𝑻 𝟏=𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑻 𝟐=𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑑𝑧 −6
𝑇 3 𝑧 = ( 𝐹 )¿ (350 𝑙𝑏) 𝑇 3 𝑧 =− 291.2176 𝑙𝑏
𝑑 2 √ 13
 𝑇 1 𝑥 =85.7143 𝑙𝑏 𝑇 2 𝑥 =0 𝑇 3 𝑥 =− 194.1451𝑙𝑏
𝑇 1 𝑦 =−57.1429 𝑙𝑏 𝑇 2 𝑦 =178.8854 𝑙𝑏 𝑇 3 𝑦 =0 z
𝑇 1 𝑧 =−171.4286 𝑙𝑏 𝑇 2 𝑧 =− 357.7709 𝑙𝑏 𝑇 3 𝑧 =− 291.2176 𝑙𝑏
𝑂(0,0,0)
E COMPONENT OF THE RESULTANT FORCE:

𝑅 𝑥 =∑ 𝐹 𝑥
𝑅 𝑥 =85.7143+ 0+(− 194.1451) x y
𝑅 𝑥 =−108.4308 𝑙𝑏

𝑅 𝑦 =∑ 𝐹 𝑦
𝑅 𝑦 =−57.1429+178.8854 − 0
𝐶(− 4,0, −6)
𝑅 𝑦 =121.7425 𝑙𝑏

𝑅 𝑧 =∑ 𝐹 𝑧
𝑅 𝑧 =−171.4286 + ( −357.7709 ) +(−291.2176) 𝐸(3 ,− 2,− 6)
𝑻 𝟑=𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑅 𝑧 =820.4171 𝑙𝑏 𝐵(0,3, − 6)

⃗
𝑅=−108.4308 𝑖+121.7425 𝑗 − 820.4171𝑘 𝑻 𝟏=𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑻 𝟐=𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒃
𝑅=√ ( −108.4308 ) + ( 121.7425 ) + ( − 820.4171 )
2 2 2

𝑅=836.4584 𝑙𝑏
STATICS OF RIGID BODIES:
FORCES IN SPACE
EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

This material is for use and distribution only within the

EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS