Chapter - 4: Force System Resultants

UNIVERSITY OF ANBAR
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DAM & WATER RESOURCES DEPT.
Engineering Mechanics - STATICS
CHAPTER - 4
Force System Resultants
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES:
 To discuss the concept of the moment of a force
and show how to calculate it in two and three
dimensions.
 To provide a method for finding the moment of
a force about a specified axis.
 To define the moment of a couple.
 To present methods for determining the resultants
of non-concurrent force systems.
 To indicate how to reduce a simple distributed
loading to a resultant force having a specified
location.
4.1 Moment of a Force - Scalar Formulation:

In addition to the tendency to move a body in the
direction of its application, a force can also tend to
rotate a body about an axis. The axis may be any line
which neither intersects nor is parallel to the line of
action of the force. This rotational tendency is known
as the moment M of the force. Moment is also referred
to as torque.
Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

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Consider the force F and point O which lie in the shaded

plane as shown in Fig. 4–2 a. The moment MO about
point O, or about an axis passing through O and
perpendicular to the plane, is a vector quantity since it
has a specified magnitude and direction.
Magnitude: The magnitude of MO is:
Where d is the moment arm or perpendicular distance

from the axis at point O to the line of action of the force.
Units of moment are N.m or lb.ft.
Direction: The direction of MO is defined by its moment
axis, which is perpendicular to the plane that contains the
force F and its moment arm d . The right-hand rule is
used to establish the sense of direction of MO.
Resultant Moment: For two-dimensional problems,
where all the forces lie within the x–y plane, Fig. 4–3 ,
the resultant moment (MR)O about point O (the z axis) can
be determined by finding the algebraic sum of the
moments caused by all the forces in the system. As a
convention, we will generally consider positive moments
as counterclockwise since they are directed along the
positive z axis (out of the page). Clockwise moments will
be negative. Therefore:
If the numerical result of this sum is a positive scalar, (MR)O will be a

Counterclockwise moment (out of the page); and if the result is negative, (MR)O will
be a clockwise moment (into the page).

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4.2 Cross Product:

The moment of a force will be formulated using Cartesian vectors in the next
section. Before doing this, however, it is first necessary to expand our knowledge of
vector algebra and introduce the cross-product method of vector multiplication.
The cross product of two vectors A and B yields the vector C , which is written
as:
and is read “ C equals A cross B .”
Magnitude: The magnitude of C is defined as the

product of the magnitudes of A and B and the sine of the
angle u between their tails ( 0°≤ θ ≤ 180° ). Thus,
C= .
Direction: Vector C has a direction that is
perpendicular to the plane containing A and B such that
C is specified by the right-hand rule; i.e., curling the
fingers of the right hand from vector A (cross) to vector
B, the thumb points in the direction of C , as shown in
Fig. 4–6 .
Laws of Operation:
• The commutative law is not valid; i.e. , x
≠ x Rather, A x B = -B x A. This is
shown in Fig. 4–7 by using the right-hand
rule. The cross product B x A yields a vector
that has the same magnitude but acts in the
opposite direction to C ; i.e., B x A = - C.

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• If the cross product is multiplied by a scalar a, it obeys the associative law;

a(A x B) = (aA) x B = A x (aB) = (A x B)a
• The distributive law of addition,
A x (B + D) = (A x B) + (A x D)
Cartesian Vector Formulation: Equation 4–3

may be used to find the cross product of any pair of
Cartesian unit vectors. For example, to find i x j, the
magnitude of the resultant vector is (i)( j)(sin 900) =
(1)(1)(1) = 1, and its direction is determined using the
right-hand rule. As shown in Fig. 4–8 , the resultant
vector points in the +k direction. Thus, i x j = (1)k. In
a similar manner,
These results should not be memorized; rather, it should be

clearly understood how each is obtained by using the right-
hand rule and the definition of the cross product. A simple
scheme shown in Fig. 4–9 is helpful for obtaining the same
results when the need arises. If the circle is constructed as
shown, then “crossing” two unit vectors in a
counterclockwise fashion around the circle yields the positive
third unit vector; e.g., k x i = j. “Crossing” clockwise , a
negative unit vector is obtained; e.g., i x k = -j.
Let us now consider the cross product of two general vectors and ,
× =( + + )×( + + )
× = (×)+ (×)+ (× )+ (×)+ (×)+ (× )
+ ( ×)+ ( ×)+ ( × )
× =( − ) –( − ) +( − )

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This equation may also be written in a more compact determinant form as:
4.3 Moment of a Force - Vector Formulation

The moment of a force F about point O , or actually
about the moment axis passing through O and
perpendicular to the plane containing O and F ,
Fig. 4–10 a , can be expressed using the vector cross
product, namely,
Here r represents a position vector directed from O to

any point on the line of action of F .
The magnitude of the cross product is defined from

Eq.4–3 as MO = rF , where the angle is measured
between the tails of r and F. From Fig. 4–10 b, since the
moment arm d = r , then:
MO = rF = F(r ) = Fd
The direction and sense of MO in Eq. 4–6 are determined by the right-hand rule as it
applies to the cross product.

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Principle of Transmissibility: The cross

product operation is often used in three
dimensions since the perpendicular distance or
moment arm from point O to the line of action
of the force is not needed. In other words, we
can use any position vector r measured from
point O to any point on the line of action of the
force F, Fig. 4–11 . Thus,
MO = r1 x F = r2 x F = r3 x F
Since F can be applied at any point along its line of action and still create this same
moment about point O , then F can be considered a sliding vector . This property is
called the principle of transmissibility of a force.
Example -1
Calculate the magnitude of the moment about the base
point O of the 600-N force in five different ways.
Solution:
(I) The moment arm to the 600-N force is d = 4 cos
40o + 2 sin 40o = 4.35 m
By M = Fd the moment is clockwise and has the
magnitude:
MO = 600(4.35) = 2610 N.m Ans.
(II) Replace the force by its rectangular components
at A,
F1= 600 cos40o = 460 N, F2 = 600 sin 40o = 386 N
The moment becomes:
MO = 460(4) + 386(2) = 2610 N.m Ans.
(III) 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 40o = 5.68 m and the moment is:
MO = 460(5.68) = 2610 N.m Ans.

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(IV) Moving the force to point C eliminates the

moment of the component F1. The moment arm of F2
becomes: d2 = 2 + 4 cot 40o = 6.77 m
and the moment is:
MO = 386(6.77) = 2610 N.m Ans.
(IV) By the vector expression for a moment, and by

using the coordinate system indicated on the figure
together with the procedures for evaluating cross products, we have:
MO = r x F = (2i + 4j) x 600(i cos 40o - j sin 40o)
= -2610k N.m
The minus sign indicates that the vector is in the negative z-direction. The
magnitude of the vector expression is:
MO = 2610 N.m Ans.

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continue Example (4.5)

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Cartesian vector formulation:

If we establish x, y, z coordinate axes, then the position
vector and force can be expressed as Cartesian vectors
(Fig 4-12-a) then we can write:
Where , , represent the x, y, z components of the

position vector drawn from point O to any point on the
line of action of the force. , , represent the x, y, z
components of the force vector. If the determinant is
expanded, then like Eq. 4–4 we have:
Resultant Moment of a system of forces:

If a body is acted upon by a system of forces (Fig 4-13), the resultant
moment of the forces about point O can be determined by vector addition of the
moment of each force. This resultant can be written
symbolically as:
( ) =Σ( × )

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UNIVERSITY OF ANBAR

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

4.1 Moment of a Force - Scalar Formulation:

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

Consider the force F and point O which lie in the shaded

Where d is the moment arm or perpendicular distance

If the numerical result of this sum is a positive scalar, (MR)O will be a

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

4.2 Cross Product:

and is read “ C equals A cross B .”

Magnitude: The magnitude of C is defined as the

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

• If the cross product is multiplied by a scalar a, it obeys the associative law;

Cartesian Vector Formulation: Equation 4–3

These results should not be memorized; rather, it should be

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

4.3 Moment of a Force - Vector Formulation

Here r represents a position vector directed from O to

The magnitude of the cross product is defined from

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

Principle of Transmissibility: The cross

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

(IV) Moving the force to point C eliminates the

(IV) By the vector expression for a moment, and by

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

continue Example (4.5)

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

Engineering Mechanics - STATICS

Cartesian vector formulation:

Where , , represent the x, y, z components of the

Resultant Moment of a system of forces:

Prepared by: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ayad A. Sulaibi

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