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Force Vectors: ESCI 211 - Statics of Rigid Bodies

This document discusses force vectors and their properties. It defines scalars and vectors, and explains that a vector requires both magnitude and direction while a scalar only requires magnitude. It then discusses how to add and subtract vectors using the parallelogram law, and how to resolve a vector into components or find the resultant of multiple vectors. Vector addition is used to find the net force acting on an object from multiple force vectors.

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50 views

Force Vectors: ESCI 211 - Statics of Rigid Bodies

This document discusses force vectors and their properties. It defines scalars and vectors, and explains that a vector requires both magnitude and direction while a scalar only requires magnitude. It then discusses how to add and subtract vectors using the parallelogram law, and how to resolve a vector into components or find the resultant of multiple vectors. Vector addition is used to find the net force acting on an object from multiple force vectors.

Uploaded by

Vv Zoid
Copyright
© Public Domain
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Force Vectors

ESCI 211 - Statics of Rigid Bodies


Objectives
To show how to add forces and resolve them into components using the
Parallelogram Law.
To express force and position in Cartesian vector form and explain how to
determine the vector’s magnitude and direction.
To introduce the dot product in order to use it to find the angle between two
vectors or the projection of one vector onto another.
Scalars and Vectors
Scalar
A scalar is any positive or negative physical quantity that can be completely
specified by its magnitude. Examples of scalar quantities include length, mass,
and time.
Vector
A vector is any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude and a direction for
its complete description. Examples of vectors encountered in statics are force,
position, and moment. A vector is shown graphically by an arrow. The length of the
arrow represents the magnitude of the vector, and the angle u between the vector
and a fixed axis defines the direction of its line of action. The head or tip of the
arrow indicates the sense of direction of the vector.
Vectors Operation
Multiplication and Division of a Vector by a Scalar
If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its magnitude is increased by that
amount. Multiplying by a negative scalar will also change the directional sense of
the vector. Graphic examples of these operations are shown
Vector Addition
When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both their
magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must use the parallelogram law of
addition. To illustrate, the two component vectors A and B is shown are added to
form a resultant vector R = A + B using the following procedure:
Vector Addition
When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both their
magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must use the parallelogram law of
addition. To illustrate, the two component vectors A and B is shown are added to
form a resultant vector R = A + B using the following procedure:
Vector Addition
When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both their
magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must use the parallelogram law of
addition. To illustrate, the two component vectors A and B is shown are added to
form a resultant vector R = A + B using the following procedure:
Vector Addition
When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both their
magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must use the parallelogram law of
addition. To illustrate, the two component vectors A and B is shown are added to
form a resultant vector R = A + B using the following procedure:
Triangle Rule
Vector Subtraction
The resultant of the difference between two vectors A and B of the same type may
be expressed as
Vector Addition of Forces
Experimental evidence has shown that a force is a vector quantity since it has a
specified magnitude, direction, and sense and it adds according to the
parallelogram law. Two common problems in statics involve either finding the
resultant force, knowing its components, or resolving a known force into two
components. We will now describe how each of these problems is solved using
the parallelogram law.
Finding a Resultant Force
The two component forces F1 and F2 acting on the pin in Fig. (a) can be added
together to form the resultant force FR = F1 + F2, as shown in Fig. (b). From this
construction, or using the triangle rule, Fig. (c), we can apply the law of cosines or
the law of sines to the triangle in order to obtain the magnitude of the resultant
force and its direction.
Finding the Components of a Force
Sometimes it is necessary to resolve a force into two components in order to study
its pulling or pushing effect in two specific directions. For example, in Fig. (a), F is
to be resolved into two components along the two members, defined by the u and
v axes. In order to determine the magnitude of each component, a parallelogram
is constructed first, by drawing lines starting from the tip of F, one line parallel to u,
and the other line parallel to v.
These lines then intersect with the v and u axes, forming a parallelogram. The
force components Fu and Fv are then established by simply joining the tail of F to
the intersection points on the u and v axes, Fig. (b)
This parallelogram can then be reduced to a triangle, which represents the triangle
rule, Fig. (c). From this, the law of sines can then be applied to determine the
unknown magnitudes of the components.

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