East Point School

Physics Project Work

Term-1 Examination
Session- 2021-22
Name- Saanvi Shee
Class- XI Sec- B Roll- 10
Stream- Bio Science
Topic- The Study of the Equilibrium
of Concurrent Forces
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Certificate
This is to certify that Saanvi Shee who is
a student of Class XI B has successfully
completed the research on the below
mentioned project under the guidance
of Mr. Biplab Ballab during the year
2021-22 in partial fulfillment of the
Term-1 examination of the Central
Board of Secondary Education

Principal, Subject Teacher,

Ms.Keya Chakraborty Mr.Biplab Ballab
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Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks
of gratitude to our teacher Mr. Biplab
Ballab who gave me the opportunity to
do this wonderful project. Secondly, I
would like to thank the books and the
websites which helped me a lot, also the
authors who wrote wonderful piece of
works. Moreover, this project helped me
a lot in expanding my current
knowledge as I came across many new
information while doing this project.
Also, I would like to thank my parents
and friends who helped me a lot in
finishing this project in the given
amount of time
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Declaration
I hereby declare that the project work
entitled “The Study of Equilibrium of
Concurrent Forces “submitted to the
“East Point School” is a record of the
original work done by me.
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Content
Sl No Topics Page
1 The study of equilibrium of 6 - 24
concurrent forces

2 What is force? And types of 7

forces

3 Gravitational Force 8

4 Electromagnetic Force 9

5 Nuclear Force 9

6 Weak Force 10

7 What are Newton’s Laws of 11

Motion

8 Newton’s First Law 11

9 Newton’s Second Law 12

10 Newton’s Third Law 12

11 Concept of equilibrium of forces 13

12 Types of equilibrium of forces- 13 – 14

Static and Dynamic
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13 Lami’s Theorem 15

14 Few examples of concurrent 16 – 23

forces

15 Summary 24

16 Conclusion 25

17 Bibliography 26
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Topic-
The Study of the
Equilibrium of Concurrent
Forces
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What is Force?
In physics, a force is an influence that can
change the motion of an object. A force
can cause an object with mass to change
its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of
rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be
described intuitively as a push or a pull. A
force has both magnitude and direction,
making it a vector quantity. It is measured
in the SI unit of newton (N). Force is
represented by the symbol F.

There are two types of forces- 1. Contact

Forces and 2. Non- contact forces
Here, we will be discussing mostly on
contact forces
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The various types of forces in nature can be

grouped in four categories:
(a) Gravitational,
(b) Electromagnetic,
(c) Nuclear and
(d) Weak.
A. Gravitational Force-
Any two bodies attract each other by virtue of
their masses. The force of attraction between
𝑚 𝑚
two-point masses is 𝐹 = 𝐺 1 2 2 , where m1
𝑟
and m2 are the masses of the particles and r is
the distance between them.
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B. Electromagnetic Force-
If two particles having charges q1 and q2 are
at rest with respect to the observer, the force
between them has a magnitude

C. Nuclear Force-
A strong attractive force between nucleons
in the atomic nucleus that holds the
nucleus together.
The forces are much weaker than the Coulomb
force if the separation between the particles is
more than say 10−14 m.
Being short ranged, these forces come into
picture only if the changes within the nucleus
are discussed. As bare nuclei are less frequently
encountered in daily life, one is generally
unaware of these forces. Radioactivity, nuclear
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energy (fission, fusion) etc. result from nuclear

forces.
D. Weak Force-
A neutron can change itself into a proton and
simultaneously emit an electron and a particle
called antinutrino. This is called β − decay.
Never think that a neutron is made up of a
proton, an electron and an antineutrino. A
proton can also change into neutron and
simultaneously emit a positron (and a
neutrino). This is called β + decay.
The forces responsible for these changes are
called weak forces.
The range of weak forces is very small, in fact
much smaller than the size of a proton or a
neutron.
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What are Newton’s laws of Motion?

Sir Issac Newton is widely recognized as one of
the most influential scientists ever. He built up
on the works of Galileo and Kepler and
published his book Philosophiae Naturalis
Mathematica in 1687, with encouragement
and help from his friend Edmond Haley (of
Haley’s comet fame). This work laid the
foundation of classical mechanics. Newton’s
laws of motion are heart and soul of Physics.
Though the laws are simple to state and
involve little mathematical complexity.
Newton’s First Law
In an inertial frame, a body will remain in its
state of linear uniform motion or rest unless an
external unbalanced net force is applied on it.
This is also known as the law of inertia.
Inertial frames are the frame of reference
under which Newtonian mechanics holds true.
Earth is considered to be an inertial frame and
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any body in acceleration with respect to earth

is in non-inertial frame.

Newton’s Second Law

The rate of a change of a particle’s
momentum p is given by the force acting
on the particle
F = dp/dt
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎
Newton’s Third Law
For every action (a force), there is an equal and
opposite reaction (another force) and they
(action and reaction) act on two different
bodies.

Newton’s first law can be used to define force

as a physical cause responsible for acceleration
in a body. The second law gives a measure of
the force.
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Concept of Equilibrium of forces

Equilibrium of a body is a state in which all
the forces acting on the body are balanced
(cancelled out), and the net force acting on
the body is zero. If the net resultant force
acting on a body is zero, it means that the
net acceleration of the body is also zero
(from the second law of motion).

If the net force be 𝐹 , then in equilibrium,

𝐹𝑥 = 𝐹𝑦 = 𝐹𝑧 = 0

Generally, there are 2 types of equilibrium:

1. Static Equilibrium: This is the type of
equilibrium in which the resultant of all the
forces acting on the body is zero, i.e. the net
acceleration of the body is zero, and the
velocity of the body is also zero. It means that
the body is at rest. So, if a body is at rest and
the net acceleration of it is zero, it means the
body is in static equilibrium.
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Suppose a block is resting on a floor and two

forces of 5 N each are acting on it from either
side. The forces would cancel each other out
and hence the net force on the block would
be zero. Since the block is at rest, it will be in
static equilibrium.

2. Dynamic Equilibrium: This is the type

of equilibrium in which the resultant of all the
forces acting on the body is zero, i.e. the net
acceleration of the body is zero, but the
velocity of the body is not zero. It means that
the body is moving with a constant velocity.
So, if the net force acting on the body is zero,
and it is still moving with some constant
velocity, the body is said to be in dynamic
equilibrium.

A block attached to a spring under the

influence of Simple Harmonic Motion
(S.H.M.) is a common example of dynamic
equilibrium. At the mean position, the net
force acting on the block is zero but the
velocity of the block is maximum, which
means that the block is in dynamic
equilibrium at that point
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Lami’s Theorem
When three forces acting at a point are in
equilibrium, then each force is proportional to the
sine of the angle between the other two forces
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Few Examples of Equilibrium

of Concurrent Forces:
1. A block of mass M is placed on a smooth
inclined surface. A horizontal force F is
applied on it and the block is in
equilibrium. Find F.
Solution-

In the context of the problem, the word

equilibrium implies that the block is
motionless. In general, a body is said to
be in translational equilibrium when the
net force on it is zero. A car moving with
a constant velocity is in equilibrium.
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2. In the figure shown, the mass of the ball

is M and the string S3 is horizontal. Find
tension in the strings S1 and S3. The
strings do not have mass
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3. A flexible massive rope A heavy rope of

mass M is tied to the ceiling and wall of a
room as shown in the figure. The rope
makes an angle q with the ceiling and an
angle of 90° with the vertical wall. Find
the tension forces at the two ends of the
rope.
Solution
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4. A block of mass m is supported by a string

passing over an ideal pulley as shown in
the figure. The part of the string above
the pulley makes an angle of 30° with the
horizontal. How much force the support
must apply on the pulley? [Here ‘support’
means the pin or the rod that is used to
secure the pulley in place]
Solution
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5. A man of mass M = 70 kg stands on a

platform of mass m = 50 kg. The man is
able to keep himself and the platform at
rest suspended in air with the help of a
pulley system as shown in the figure. Find
the force the man must apply on the
string to keep the system at rest. All
pulleys and string are massless. [g =
10𝑚⁄𝑠 2 ]
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Solution
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6. A spherical ball of mass M is resting

inside a V-shaped smooth groove as
shown in the figure. Find the normal force
applied by a groove wall on the ball.
Solution
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Summary
1. A force is an influence that can
change the motion of an object. A
force can cause an object
with mass to change its velocity.
2. There are two types of forces- a.
Contact Forces and b. Non- contact
forces
3. Newton has three laws of motion, First
Law or Law of Inertia, Second Law and
Third Law.
4. All of newton’s laws work under inertial
frame and fail in non- inertial frame.
5. Equilibrium of a body is a state in
which all the forces acting on the body
are balanced (cancelled out), and the
net force acting on the body is zero.
6. If the net force be 𝐹 , then in
equilibrium, (components of 𝐹 )
𝐹𝑥 = 𝐹𝑦 = 𝐹𝑧 = 0
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Conclusion
“How does the universe work?”- this is a
question which has been puzzling
generations of physicist since a millennium.
We as humans can’t even begin to
comprehend what’s on the beyond. Only via
the study of physics have we been able to
analyze just a millionth part of the universe.
But even in that small quantity lies the great
wonders of the universe. We can find physics
in the smallest to the largest of things, from
the electrons to the large blackholes. Physics
is everywhere around us. And, through this
project on “The study of equilibrium of
concurrent forces” I have been able to
understand a little more about how statics
and dynamics works.
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Bibliography
The sources from where I have collected
information for this project are:
1. Physics- Resnick Halliday Krane
2. Problems in Physics- Shashi B Tiwari
3. Concepts of Physics- HC Verma