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Understanding Moments and Torque Calculations

The document explains the concept of moments and torque, defining moment as the product of force and distance from a pivot point. It discusses the vector nature of moments, the right-hand rule for determining direction, and Varignon's Theorem, which states that the moment of a force about any point equals the sum of the moments of its components. Additionally, it presents a problem involving the calculation of the moment of a 600-N force about a base point using four different methods.

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Jhonna Isabel C. Simpao
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54 views15 pages

Understanding Moments and Torque Calculations

The document explains the concept of moments and torque, defining moment as the product of force and distance from a pivot point. It discusses the vector nature of moments, the right-hand rule for determining direction, and Varignon's Theorem, which states that the moment of a force about any point equals the sum of the moments of its components. Additionally, it presents a problem involving the calculation of the moment of a 600-N force about a base point using four different methods.

Uploaded by

Jhonna Isabel C. Simpao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Moment

The Moment of a Force is the force multiplied


by the distance from the pivot point.

Distance (d)

Fulcrum Force (F)

Moment = F x d
Moments
Torque may be represented as shown.

Force

Pivot Point

Torque (turning force) = Force x Distance


Moment about a Point
Figure b shows a two-dimensional body
acted on by a force F in its plane. The
magnitude of the moment or tendency of
the force to rotate the body about the axis 0-
0 perpendicular to the plane of the body is
proportional both to the magnitude of the
force and to the moment arm d, which is the
perpendicular distance from the axis to the
line of action of the force. Therefore, the
magnitude of the moment is defined as

M=Fd
The moment is a vector M perpendicular
to the plane of the body. The sense of M
depends on the direction in which F
tends to rotate the body. The right-hand
rule, Fig. c, is used to identify this sense.
We represent the moment of F about 0-
0 as a vector pointing in the direction of
the thumb, with the fingers curled in the
direction of the rotational tendency
The moment of force F about point
A in Fig. d has the magnitude

M = Fd and is counterclockwise.
Cross Product

where r is a position vector which runs from


the moment reference point A to any point on
the line of action of F.

The magnitude of this expression is given by*


𝑀 = 𝐹 𝑟 sin 𝑎
𝑀=𝐹𝑑
Varignon's Theorem
- states that the moment of a force about any point is equal to the sum
of the moments of the components of the force about the same point.

consider the force R acting in the plane


of the body shown in Fig. a. The forces P
and Q represent any two nonrectangular
components of R. The moment of R
about point 0 is :

𝑀𝑜 = 𝑟 𝑥 𝑅
which says that the moment of R about 0 equals the sum of
the moments about 0 of its components P and Q. This proves
the theorem.
Figure b illustrates the usefulness of Varignon's theorem. The moment
of R about point 0 is Rd. However, if d is more difficult to determine
than p and q, we can resolve R into the components P and Q, and
compute the moment a
Problem 1:
• Calculate the
magnitude of the
moment about the
base point 0 of the
600-N force in four
different ways.
Problem 1:
Given:

Required : Calculate the magnitude of the moment


about the base point 0 of the given force in in four
different ways.
Solution:
First Solution:
Considering the 600N force . Solving for the Moment arm d:

𝑑 =𝑎+𝑏
a
𝑑 = 4 cos 400 + 2 sin 400 = 4.35 𝑚
b 𝑀0 = 𝐹 𝑑
𝑀0 = 600 𝑁 4.35 𝑚

𝑴𝟎 = 𝟐𝟔𝟏𝟎 𝑵. 𝒎. 𝑨𝒏𝒔.
Solution:
Second Solution:

Replace the force by its components at A:

𝐹1 = 600 cos 400 = 460 𝑁

𝐹2 = 600 sin 400 = 386 𝑁

𝑴𝟎 = 𝟒𝟔𝟎 𝟒 + 𝟑𝟖𝟔 𝟐 = 𝟐𝟔𝟏𝟎 𝑵. 𝒎 ans.


Third Solution:
By the principle of transmissibility, move the 600-N force along
its line of action to point B, which eliminates the moment of the
component F2 The moment arm of F1 becomes

𝑑1 = 4 + 2 t𝑎𝑛 400 = 5.68𝑚

𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠


𝑀0 = 𝐹1 𝑑1

𝑴𝟎 = 𝟒𝟔𝟎 𝑵( 𝟓. 𝟔𝟖𝒎) = 𝟐𝟔𝟏𝟎 𝑵. 𝒎 ans.


Fourth Solution:
Moving the force to point C eliminates the moment of the
component F 1• The moment arm of F2 becomes

𝑑2 = 2 + 𝑐

4
𝑑2 = 2 + 0
= 6.77𝑚
tan 40
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠
c 𝑀0 = 𝐹2 𝑑2
𝑴𝟎 = 𝟑𝟖𝟔 𝑵( 𝟔. 𝟕𝟕𝒎) = 𝟐𝟔𝟏𝟎 𝑵. 𝒎 ans.

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