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Free Body Diagrams: How To Create A Basic FBD

A free-body diagram (FBD) visually represents an object and the external forces acting on it, crucial for problem-solving in engineering and physics. To create a basic FBD, one must identify the object, represent it simply, identify the acting forces, and draw arrows indicating the direction of these forces. Proper labeling of the forces completes the FBD, making it ready for further analysis.

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9 views5 pages

Free Body Diagrams: How To Create A Basic FBD

A free-body diagram (FBD) visually represents an object and the external forces acting on it, crucial for problem-solving in engineering and physics. To create a basic FBD, one must identify the object, represent it simply, identify the acting forces, and draw arrows indicating the direction of these forces. Proper labeling of the forces completes the FBD, making it ready for further analysis.

Uploaded by

nihaljohnfkennedy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Free Body Diagrams

A free-body diagram is a visual representation of an object and all of the external forces acting
on it, so to draw one you'll have to have this information calculated. They are very important for
working in engineering or physics problem solving since drawing them helps you to understand
what is going on in a problem. A free-body diagram can be drawn very simply, with squares and
arrows, or you can make it much more complex. The only requirement is that you or someone
else looking at it should be able to understand what the diagram is telling.

A free-body diagram (FBD) is a representation of a certain object showing all of the external
forces that acts on it. FBDs are very helpful in engineering and physics problem solving.

How to create a basic FBD :

1
Identify the body/object you want to make an FBD of.
 Example: A man is pushing a 10kg box on a rough floor, with a coefficient of friction of
µ = 0.6 (Neglect friction when not required), by applying a 20N force. You will select
our body to be the box.

1 Akashdeep Goswami | DEPT. OF ME, GIMT, GUWAHATI


2
Draw a simple representation of the body.
 Example: Make a square to represent the box.

2 Akashdeep Goswami | DEPT. OF ME, GIMT, GUWAHATI


3
Think of which forces are acting on the body.
 Example: These are (1) the weight of the object, (2) the pushing force of the man, (3) the
normal force applied by the floor, and (4) the friction force due to the rough floor
(NEGLECT FRICTION WHENEVER IT IS NOT MENTIONED IN YOUR
PROBLEM; IT IS NOT MENDATORY TO INTRODUCE FRICTION WHEN
NOT NECESSARY)

3 Akashdeep Goswami | DEPT. OF ME, GIMT, GUWAHATI


4
Draw the forces one by one using arrows pointing to the direction of the force. Always start
with the weight because all objects have weight.
 Example: (1) For the weight, draw an arrow pointing downward because the weight is the
pulling force of the earth's gravity, which is always downward.

4 Akashdeep Goswami | DEPT. OF ME, GIMT, GUWAHATI


5
Draw the remaining forces.
 Example: (2) Draw an arrow that follows the direction of the pushing force. (3) Draw an
arrow pointing upward for the normal force because it should always be perpendicular
to the floor. (4) Draw an arrow that is opposite the direction of motion of the box for
the friction.

6
 Label your forces properly and your basic FBD is done!

Now that all forces are represented with their direction and
magnitude (F,f,W etc.), your FBD is ready for further
engineering analysis!

5 Akashdeep Goswami | DEPT. OF ME, GIMT, GUWAHATI

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