Problem Set 8 Answer Key

Equilibrium of a Rigid Body, Physics 21

1. A heavy electric motor is to be carried by two men by placing it on a light board 2.0 m long.
To lift the board with the motor on it, one man must lift at one end with a force of 600 N
and the other at the opposite end with a force of 400 N. What is the weight of the motor,
and where is it located?
Answer: Figure 1 shows the free-body diagram of the light board with all the forces acting
on it.
Wm
x

2m
A

F1 = 600 N F2 = 400 N
Figure1
Summing forces along the vertical yields the weight of the motor Wm :
∑
Fy = 0 = F1 + F2 − Wm = 600 N + 400 N − Wm
Wm = 1000 N
Summing moments about an axis of rotation passing through A on the left side of the board
yields the value of x:
∑
ΓA = 0 = F2 (2 m) − Wm (x)
( )
F2 (2 m) 400 N
x= = (2 m)
Wm 1000 n
x = 0.8 m

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2. The beam in Figure 2 weighs 200 N and its center of gravity is at its center.

Figure 2
Find:
a. the tension T in the cable
Answer: Figure 3 shows the free-body diagram in Figure 2 with forces acting on the beam
superimposed on the structure.

F2x A

F2y Wb F1

Figure 3
Given Wb = 200 N and F1 = 300 N, summing moments about an axis passing through A
yields T : ∑
ΓA = 0 = 35 T (4 m) − Wb (2 m) − F1 (4 m)
( )( )
5
T = 2(200) + 4(300)
12
T = 667 N

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 b. the horizontal and vertical components of the force exerted on the beam at the wall.
Answer: Summing forces along the horizontal yields F2x :
∑
Fx = 0 = F2x − 45 T
F2x = 45 T = 54 (667)
F2x = 533 N
Summing forces along the vertical yields F2y :
∑
Fy = 0 = F2y + 35 T − Wb − F1
F2y = Wb + F1 − 35 T = 200 + 300 + 53 (667)
F2y = 99.8 N

3. Find the tension in the cable BD in Figure 4, and the horizontal and vertical components
of the force exerted on the strut AB at pin A, using

Figure 4
(∑ ∑ ∑ )
a. the first and second conditions of equilibrium Fx = 0, Fy = 0, Γ = 0 , taking
torques about an axis through point A perpendicular to the plane of the diagram.
Answer: The free-body diagram of strut AB is shown in Figure 5 below.

T
FAy

FAx

W = 100 N
Figure 5

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 From the problem statement, we ignore the weight of the strut. Summing torques (force
moments) around an axis through A yields T :
∑
ΓA = 0 = 35 T (4) − W (3)
5
T = 12
W (3) = 45 W = 54 (100)

T = 125 N
Summing forces along the horizontal yields FAx :
∑
Fx = 0 = FAx − 54 T
FAx = 45 T = 54 (125)

FAx = 100 N
Summing forces along the vertical yields FAy :
∑
Fy = 0 = FAy − W + 35 T
FAy = W − 35 T = 100 − 53 (125)

FAy = 25 N
b. the second condition of equilibrium only, taking torques first about an axis through A,
then about an axis through B, and finally about an axis through D. The weight of the
strut can be neglected.
Answer: From part (a) above, summing torques about A yields T . Then summing torques
about an axis through B yields FAy :
∑
ΓB = 0 = −FAy (4) + W (1)
W (1) (100)(1)
FAy = =
4 4
FAy = 25 N
Summing torques about an axis through D yields FAx :
∑
ΓD = 0 = FAx (3) − W (3)
W (3)
FAx = =W
3

FAx = 100 N

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 c. Represent the computed forces by vectors in a diagram drawn to scale, and show that
the lines of action of the forces exerted on the strut at points A, B and C intersect at a
common point.
Answer: Drawing the forces to scale with their proper directions shows all three forces,
FA , W and T intersect at E as shown in Figure 6 below:

T
FAy E
FA

FAx

W = 100 N
Figure 6

4. One end of a meter stick is placed against a vertical wall as in Figure 7.

Figure 7
The other end is held by a light cord making an angle θ with the stick. The coefficient of
static friction between the end of the meter stick and the wall is 0.30.

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a) What is the maximum value the angle θ can have if the stick is to remain in equilibrium?
Answer: Let W be the weight of the stick and assume that the stick is of uniform density
so that its weight acts on its geometric center. At impending slippage, the stick is still in
equilibrium but the static friction between the wall and the stick is equal to its maximum
value, µs N , where N is the normal horizontal force exerted by the wall on the stick.
Figure 8 below is the free-body diagram of the stick showing all the forces acting on it.
y

T
x
N A
O

0.5 m 0.5 m
f = µsN
W
Figure 8
Summing torques around an axis passing through A yields T in terms of the stick’s weight
W:
∑
ΓA = 0 = T sin θ(1) − W (0.5)
0.5W
T = (1)
sin θ
Summing forces along the vertical yields N in terms of W :
∑
Fy = 0 = f + T sin θ − W
( )
0.5W
f = W − T sin θ = W − sin θ
sin θ
f = 0.5W
µs N = 0.5W = 0.3N
5
N= W (2)
3
Summing forces along the horizontal gives us a third relationship among the variables and
finally yields a minimum value for θ:
∑
Fx = 0 = N − T cos θ
N = T cos θ (3)

Plugging the value of N from Eqn (2) and the value of T from Eqn (1) into Eqn (3) gives
us θ: ( )
5 0.5W
W = cos θ
3 sin θ
( )
3 1 3
tan θ = =
5 2 10
θ = tan 0.3 = 16.7◦
−1

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b. Let the angle θ be 10◦ . A body of the same weight as the meter stick is suspended from
the stick as shown in Figure 9, at a distance x from the wall. What is the minimum value
of x for which the stick will remain in equilibrium?
Answer: Figure 9 shows the new structure with the added weight W . It doubles as a
free-body diagram wherein all the forces acting on the meter stick are shown where now
θ = 10◦ and µs is still 0.3.
y

x
O

N A
0.5 m
f = µsN
W W

Figure 9
Again, summing torques around an axis passing through A yields:
∑
ΓA = 0 = T sin θ(1) − W (0.5) − W (x)
T sin θ = W (x + 0.5) (4)
Summing forces along the horizontal yields:
∑
Fx = 0 = N − T cos θ
N = T cos θ (5)
Summing forces along the vertical yields:
∑
Fy = 0 = f + T sin θ − W − W
0 = µs N + T sin θ − 2W (6)
Plugging the value of N from Eqn (5) into Eqn (6) and simplifying:
0 = µs T cos θ + T sin θ − 2W
( )
2
T = W (7)
µs cos θ + sin θ
Finally, plugging the value of T from Eqn (7) into Eqn (4) gives us x:
2W sin θ
= W (x + 0.5)
µs cos θ + sin θ
2 sin θ 2 sin 10◦
− 0.5 = − 0.5 = x = 0.24 m
µs cos θ + sin θ 0.3 cos 10◦ + sin 10◦
A value of x less than 0.24 m will cause the left end of the meterstick to slide down against
the wall.
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c. When θ = 10◦ , how large must the coefficient of static friction be so that the body can
be attached at the left end of the stick without causing it to slip?
Answer: The free-body diagram in Figure 10 shows the new disribution of forces acting
on the meterstick. In this case, with θ still equal to 10◦ , and the added weight now acting
on the extreme left end of the stick, µs must be greater than 0.3 in order to prevent the
left end of the stick from sliding down.
W y

T
x
N O
A
0.5 m 0.5 m

f = µsN W
Figure 10
Summing torques around point A gives:
∑
ΓA = 0 = T sin θ(1) − W (0.5)
W (0.5)
T = (8)
sin θ
Summing forces along the vertical and using Eqn (8) above gives:
∑
Fy = 0 = f − 2W + T sin θ
f = 2W − T sin θ
W (0.5)
µs N = 2W − sin θ
sin θ
µs N = 1.5W (9)
Finally, summing forces along the horizontal, again using Eqn (8), gives us:
∑
Fx = 0 = N − T cos θ
W (0.5)
N = T cos θ = cos θ
sin θ
0.5
N= W (10)
tan θ
Plugging the value of N from Eqn (10) in Eqn (9) finally gives us µs :
( )
0.5
µs W = 1.5W
tan θ
1.5 1.5
µs = tan θ = tan 10◦
0.5 0.5
µs = 0.529
µs is indeed greater than 0.3 to keep the left side of the meterstick from sliding down.

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5. A gate 4 m long and 2 m high weighs 400 N. Its center of gravity is at its center, and it is
hinged at A and B. To relieve the strain on the top hinge, a wire CD is connected as shown
in Figure 11. The tension in CD is increased until the horizontal force at hinge A is zero.

Figure 11
a. What is the tension in the wire CD?
Answer: The free-body diagram of the gate superimposed on the structure is shown in
Figure 12. Note that due to the tension T on wire CD, there is no horizontal component
of the force on the top hinge at A.

T
T sin 30◦

T cos 30◦

FA

FBx

W = 400 N
FBy
Summing torques around an axis passing through B yields T :
∑
ΓB = 0 = T cos 30◦ (2) + T sin 30◦ (4) − W (2)
0 = T (2 cos 30◦ + 4 sin 30◦ ) − 2W
( )
1
T = 400
cos 30◦ + 2 sin 30◦

T = 214.36 N

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b. What is the magnitude of the horizontal component of force at hinge B?
Answer: Summing forces along the horizontal yields FBx :
∑
Fx = 0 = FBx − T cos 30◦
FBx = T cos 30◦ = (214.36 N) cos 30◦

FBx = 185.64 N
c. What is the combined vertical force exerted by hinges A and B?
Answer: The combined vertical force exerted by hinges A and B is given by FA + FBy
and is determined by summing forces along the vertical:
∑
Fy = 0 = (FA + FBy ) − W − T sin 30◦
FA + FBy = W + T sin 30◦ = 400 + 214.36 sin 30◦

FA + FBy = 507.18 N

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