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Condition For The Equilibrium of A Particle

1) A particle is in static equilibrium if the net force acting on it is zero. This can be analyzed using free body diagrams and applying Newton's laws of motion. 2) Free body diagrams show all external forces on an isolated body, and are used to set up equations of equilibrium. 3) Equilibrium equations are set up for both 2D and 3D systems, with signs indicating direction of unknown forces. 4) Special cases like springs and cables are considered, with springs following Hooke's law and cables only experiencing tension.

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29 views

Condition For The Equilibrium of A Particle

1) A particle is in static equilibrium if the net force acting on it is zero. This can be analyzed using free body diagrams and applying Newton's laws of motion. 2) Free body diagrams show all external forces on an isolated body, and are used to set up equations of equilibrium. 3) Equilibrium equations are set up for both 2D and 3D systems, with signs indicating direction of unknown forces. 4) Special cases like springs and cables are considered, with springs following Hooke's law and cables only experiencing tension.

Uploaded by

Erik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Equilibrium of a Particle

Condition for the Equilibrium of a Particle


A particle is in equilibrium if:

We usually use the term static equilibrium to refer to a particle at rest.

To maintain equilibrium Newton’s first law of motion must be satisfied. This requires the
resultant force acting on a particle to be equal to zero.

Mathematically this can be expressed as

where Σ F is the vector sum of all the forces acting on the particle

Free Body Diagrams (FBDs)


Before applying the equation of equilibrium we need to account for all the known and
unknown forces acting on the particle being considered.

To do this we need to draw a free body diagram that shows the freed (or isolated) body
without supports and connections, but with all weights, externally applied loads and reactions
from supports and connections applied to the body.

To construct a free body diagram the following three steps are required:

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Special Connection Types in Particle Equilibrium


Springs:

The force F developed by a linear elastic spring which is deformed (elongated or compressed)
a distance s measured from its unloaded position is given by

where k is the spring constant or stiffness.

If the spring is stretched, that is s is positive, the force F is such that it pulls on the spring

Conversely, if the spring is compressed, and s is negative, the force F will push on the spring.

Cables and Pulleys:

For all equilibrium problems in this course cables are assumed to:

They are also assumed to only be able to support a tension or “pulling” force that acts in the
direction of the cable.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Where a continuous cable passes over a frictionless pulley it can be shown that the tension
force in the cable must have a constant magnitude throughout the length of the cable for
equilibrium.

Equilibrium of 2-D Force Systems


For a particle subjected to a system of 2-D or coplanar forces equilibrium requires that

or

For this vector equation to be satisfied we require both the x and y components to be equal to
zero.

Hence, in scalar form we require

Important:

Since for a 2-D force system we have only two scalar equations of equilibrium, we can only
solve for at most two unknowns – usually either angles or magnitudes of forces shown on the
FBD of the particle.

In applying the scalar equations of equilibrium the sense of each force component is indicated
by the algebraic sign that precedes it. Since the magnitude of a force is always a positive
scalar, if a solution yields a negative scalar this indicates that the force component is acting in
the opposite direction to which it is drawn on the FBD.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Consider the FBD diagram shown below. For the particle to be in equilibrium intuition tells us
that a 10 N force acting to the left must oppose the 10 N force acting to the right.

What happens if we assume the unknown force F is acting to the right? The equation of
equilibrium for the x axis becomes

or, solving for the magnitude of F

The negative sign indicates that F is acting in the opposite direction to which it is drawn
on the FBD.

Procedure for Analysis


Draw a free body diagram of the particle, remembering to:
1) establish the x and y axes in any suitable orientation
2) label all the known force magnitudes and directions on the diagram
3) show all unknown force magnitudes and/or directions as variables
4) assume the sense of any forces with unknown magnitudes if it is not obvious

Apply the equations of equilibrium, remembering that:


1) components are positive if directed along a positive axis, negative if directed along a
negative axis
2) if there are more than two unknowns and the problem involves a spring to use the
appropriate equation relating the spring force to the deformation of the spring
3) a negative solution indicates that the force is acting in the opposite direction to which
it is drawn on the FBD

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Example Problem

Determine the maximum weight of the bucket that the wire system can support so that no
single wire develops a tension exceeding 100 lb.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Example Problem

The spring has a stiffness of k = 800 N/m and an unstretched length of 200 mm.
Determine the force in the cables BC and BD when the spring is held in the position
shown.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Equilibrium of 3-D Force Systems


For a particle subjected to a system of 3-D forces equilibrium requires that

or

In scalar form the following three equations must be satisfied for equilibrium:

Important:

Since we now have three scalar equilibrium equations we can solve for at most three
unknowns when considering equilibrium of particles subjected to a 3-D force system.

Procedure for Analysis


The procedure for analysis is identical to that for 2-D force systems, except that for a 3-D
force system it sometimes easier to express each force as a Cartesian vector and to consider
the vector form of the equilibrium equation, rather than the scalar form.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Example Problem

Determine the maximum mass of the crate so that the tension developed in any cable does not
exceed 3 kN.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Example Problem

Determine the force in each cable needed to support the 500-lb load.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

Conceptual Problem

Chain AB is 1 m long and chain AC is 1.2 m long. If the distance BC is 1.5 m, and AB can
support a maximum force of 2 kN, while AC can support a maximum force of 0.8 kN,
determine the largest vertical force F that can be applied to the link at A.

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ES 1022y Engineering Statics Equilibrium of a Particle

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