The Concepts of

Equilibrium
 Table of Contents

01 EQUILIBRIUM 03 PARTICLE AND

RIGID BODY

02 FORCE
SYSTEMS 04 TRANSLATIONAL
EQUILIBRIUM
 Table of Contents

05 EQUILIBRANT 07 CENTER OF
GRAVITY

CENTER OF
06 TORQUE 08 GRAVITY OF A
GROUP OF BODIES
 Table of Contents

09 ROTATIONAL
EQUILIBRIUM 11 HUMAN LEVER

10 STABILITY
“ FIRST PRESENTOR
(ANTONETTE BRAGAIS)

”
 EQUILIBRIUM
● The condition of a system when neither its state of motion nor its
internal energy state tends to change with time.
● Equilibrium in physics means, forces are in balance. The net force
should be zero. In other words, forces acting downward and acting
upward, and forces acting right and acting left should be equal in
magnitude.
 STATICS
● It is concerned with the calculation of
the forces acting on and within
structures that are in equilibrium.
 FORCE SYSTEMS
Concurrent and Nonconcurrent

1. Concurrent system occurs when the lines of

actions of forces acting on a body intersect at a
common point.

2. Nonconcurrent system occurs when forces are

acting at different points.
 Nonconcurrent
forces
Nonconcurrent forces may also be parallel and non parallel. The
lines of action of parallel forces do not intersect.

Example 1: When driving your hands are opposite to each other

on the steering wheel. The forces you apply with both hands
when turning either left or right cause it to turn.
 Concurrent forces
Concurrent forces are forces applied to a body in such that their lines of
action meet at a single point, then they are called concurrent forces.

Example 1: If two people stand the ends of a rope and pull on it, the
forces are concurrent because the effect of the forces will intersect at
the same point (presumably in the middle of the rope). A real life
example of this would be a tug of war competition as shown in the
image above.
 PARTICLE AND RIGID
BODY
Distinction has to made whether the object being acted upon by a
system of forces is a particle or a rigid body.

A PARTICLE A RIGID BODY

is an extended body in
may be considered as a
space that does not
point of mass.
change in size and
shape.
 RIGID BODY
A rigid body (also known as a rigid object ) is a solid body in
which deformation is zero or so small it can be neglected. The
distance between any two given points on a rigid body
remains constant in time regardless of external forces or
moments exerted on it.
 TRANSLATIONAL
EQUILIBRIUM
• Equilibrium is a condition where there is no change in the
state of motion of the body. An object in equilibrium may be
at rest. It can also be in motion , provided that it moves with
constant speed in the same direction.
• An object that has no net force acting on it is said to be in
TRANSLATIONAL EQUILIBRIUM. This condition of translational
equilibrium is usually referred to as the first condition
equilibrium and may be expressed in the form:

�=�
 SAMPLE PROBLEM
• You hang your picture frame by means of vertical string. Two
strings in turn support this string. Each strings makes 30°
with an overhead horizontal beam. Find the tension of each
strings.
 SOLUTION
• We are given w=55N. The forces acting on the frame are
shown. The tension T3 in the rope pulls on the frame upward,
while the weight of the frame pulls downward. The frame
will be in equilibrium when � = � .
 SOLUTION
• To determine T1 and T2 consider the point where the three ropes
meets as a particle in the equilibrium.
 HUMAN LEVER
“The human body is a mechanical
systems designed by the hands of God”
- Rene Descartes

“The human body are considered as

levers”
- Giovanni Alfonso Borelli
An example of lever below is
consist with three
Bones, ligaments, and muscles are the
structures that form levers in the body to create
human movement
In our body, the bones acts as the rigid bar and
the joints as fulcrum (axis). It is through this so
called “human levers” that we are able to move,
no matter how slight our movement is to talk,
to walk and to eat.
“ NEXT PRESENTOR
(MIKE PORMALEJO)

”
EQUILIBRANT
WHAT IS
EQUILIBRANT
FORCE?
An equilibrant force is a force which
brings a body into mechanical equilibrium.
According to Newton’s second law, a
body has zero acceleration when vector
sum of all the forces upon it is zero.
Therefore, an equilibrant force is equal in
magnitude and opposite in the direction
to the resultant of all the other forces
acting on a body.
Equilibrant vs. Resultant
 EXAMPLE
Suppose that known forces
are pushing an object and an
unknown equilibrant force is
acting to maintain that object
in a fixed position. One force
points to the west and has
magnitude of 10 N, and
another points to the south
and has a magnitude of 5 N.
What its equilibrant force?
 HOW TO CALCULATE
EQUILIBRANT FORCE?
Use the Pythagorean Theorem to get the Magnitude of
the Equilibrant.
C2= A2+B2
Let, A= 10 N
B= 5 N
C2= 102+52
C2= 100+25
C2= 125
C = 125
C = 11.18 N
 HOW TO CALCULATE
EQUILIBRANT FORCE?

Then, to get the angle and

direction of the equilibrant,
we will use Trigonometric
Functions. SOHCAHTOA
Sin0=10N/11.18N
Sin-1(0.894)= 63.44o
The equilibrant forces is
11.18 N 63. 44o North of
East.
TORQUE
 WHAT IS TORQUE?
• Just as linear force causes an object to
accelerate in linear, torque causes an
object to acquire angular acceleration.

• Torque is a measure of the force that can

cause an object to rotate about an axis.
 Torque in Everyday life
• Since in simple terms torque is defined as
the twisitng force that tends to cause
rotation.
• It is a general physics term which has
many day to day applications:
ü Turning the key
ü Turning the doorknob
ü While opening the bottle cap
ü While using a wrench to turn a knot.
2 Kinds of
Torque
 Static torque
• A static torque is one which does not produce
an angular acceleration.

For instance; Someone pedalling a bicycle at

constant speed is told to a static torque as they
are not accelerating.. or When some pushes an
closed door as the door is not rotating about its
hinges , despite of force applied.
 Dynamic torque
• A Dynamic torque is one which does produces
an angular acceleration.
For instance; The drive shaft in a racing car
accelerating from the start line is carrying a
dynamic torque because it must be producing an
angular acceleration of the wheels given that the
car is accelerating along the track.
How to Measure
Torque?
 Torque is a measure of how much a force is acting on an object
that cause that object to rotate, it is defined as;

τ = r x F = r F sinθ
where,
τ = torque
F = linear force
r = distance measured from the axis of rotation to where the linear
force is applied.
θ = angle between F and r
• The direction of the torque can be found
by using a conventional method that is
RIGHT HAND THUMB RULE . That is if a
hand is curled around the axis of rotation
with the fingers pointing in the direction
of the force , then the torque vector
points is in the direction of the thumb.
 • In the formula of the torque τ = r F sinθ
In the equation , sinθ has no units , r has unit of meters (m) and
F has units of Newton(N) . Combining these together the unit of torque is
a Newton-meter ( Nm).
• The Dimensional formula for

τ = [ M L2 T-2 ]
• If the force vector θ = 0° or 180° the force will not cause any
rotation on the axis . The value of torque for both this cases is zero.
• The most effective force vectors to produce torque are θ = 90°
or -90°, which are perpendicular to the position vector.
 In Rotational Kinematics , torque takes the place of the
force in linear kinematics . There is direct equivalent to
Newton’s second law of motion (F=ma)

τ = Iα
Where ,
α = angular acceleration
I = rotational inertia, a property of a rotating system which
depends on the mass distribution of the system.
The larger the I , the harder is for an object to acquire
angular acceleration.
• In the real-world , we often come across examples in which
more than one force is acting on a object . The net torque is
the sum of the individual torques. In rotational equilibrium,
there is no net torque on the ob j e ct . T h e r e may b e
individual torques, but they add up to zero and cancels each
other out.
• For instance; In every car there is more than one piston
applying torque to the crankshaft. The total torque is the
sum of each individual torques
Total ( τ ) = τ(1) + τ(2) + ……..+ τ(n)
where n is the total number of torques being applied to the
object.
In case , of the rotational equilibrium this is when the
addition of all the torques is acting on a object equals to
zero, this means that there is no torque acting on the
object or all the torques acting on the object are
cancelling each other out.
For instance; a See-Saw..
CENTER OF
GRAVITY
• The WHY’s about Center of Gravity?
• Why doesn’t the leaning tower of Pisa
topple over?
• How far can it lean before it does
topple over?
• Why is it impossible for us to stand
with our back and our heels against a
wall and bend over and touch or toes
without toppling forward?
 What is center of
gravity (CG)?
● Center of Mass – is the point where a body
can be balanced in a uniform gravitational
f ield . P o in t w h er e m o s t o f t h e m a s s i s
concentrated.
● The Center of Gravity is the single point on
an object where all of its weight is assumed
to be located.
Examples of center of
mass/center of gravity
 Locating the Center of Gravity

• The center of gravity of a uniform object is at the midpoint, its

geometric center. Supporting that single point supports the
whole object.
Locating the Center of Gravity

When the distribution

of mass of the object is
not constant or the
object is not uniform
the center of gravity
shifts to the direction
of greater mass.
Locating the Center of Gravity

The CG of an object may be located where no actual

material exists.
 Try this!
● Rest a meter stick on two extended forefingers. Slowly bring
your fingers together. Note what occurs as your fingers meet
at the CG. When one finger gets ahead of the other, weight
on it increases, enough to keep it from moving, while the
other finger, with less friction, slides and catches up. You
end up at 50 cm mark because the fingers always meet at
CG!
 Toppling
● If the CG of an object is above the area of support, the
object will remain upright. If the CG extends outside the
area of support, the object will topple over.
● The Leaning Tower of Pisa does not topple over because
its CG does not extend beyond its base! And so the tower
has stood for centuries.
 Just a
thought.......
● When you carry a heavy load –such as a pail o water-with
one arm, why do you tend to hold your free arm out
horizontally?
● You tend to hold your free arm outstretched to shift the
CG of your body away from the load so your combined CG
will more easily be above the base of support.
 Just a
thought.......
● To resist being toppled, why does a wrestler stand
with feet wide apart and bent knees?

● A wide apart feet increase the support base. Bent

knees lower the CG.
 Just a
thought.......
● What is the importance of tails of an animal
in terms of toppling?

● Tail gives an animal the ability to shift its

CG and increase stability
“ LAST PRESENTOR
(KRISTEL LUDANGCO)

”
 CENTER OF
GRAVITY OF A
GROUP OF BODIES
 Types of bodies
REGULAR IRREGULAR
EXAMPLE: (RULER)

G
P Q
A B
A B
P Q
G G
Q P

BA
 G
P Q
A B
EXAMPLE: triangular body
B

f e
G

A C
d
EXAMPLE: Circular body

B
D

C A
EXAMPLE: Circular body
EXAMPLE: Irregular body
STABILITY
 REASON

• BASE AREA OF THE ROLER IS LESS WHILE THE BASE

AREA OF THE THICK CYLINDER IS LARGER

• THE THICK CYLINDER IS MORE STABLE THAN THE

ROLER
 STABILITY OF THE BODY

depends upon 2 factors:

1. Base area (wide)

2. height of the center of gravity (low)
EXAMPLE
 STABILITY

of the state of the body increases

with the base area and decreases
with the height of the center of
gravity.
EXAMPLE
STAGES OF EQUILIBRIUM

1. STABLE
2. UNSTABLE
3. NEUTRAL
 STABLE EQUILIBRIUM

A body is said to be in stable equilibrium if

it regains its original position/ equilibrium
after being slightly distrurbed.
EXAMPLE
 UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM

A body is said to be unstable equilibrium

if it does not regain its original position
after being slightly disturbed.
EXAMPLE
 NEUTRAL EQUILIBRIUM

A body is said to be neutral equilibrium if

when slightly disturbed/displaced it tends
to come to rest in its new position.
EXAMPLE
Summary of Different
States of Equilibrium
 Rotational equilibrium
A body is said to be in rotational equilibrium
when the sum of torque is zero. The object in
rotational equilibrium will rotate with angular
velocity which could be zero.
Sum of clockwise torques = sum of anti-
clockwise torques
 example problem

Consider the diagram above, whereby a plank is supported by a pivot.

Two forces, 120 N and F are acting on the plank. Given that the plank is
perfectly balanced (has rotational equilibrium), find F.
Solution
Solution
 How this principle may be applied to two persons of
different weights trying to balance on a see-saw?
The principle of moments states that for a body to be in rotational
equilibrium, the sum of clockwise torques about any point (which acts as a
pivot) must equal to the sum of anti-clockwise torques about the same
point.

For the see-saw to be balanced, the see-saw must be in rotational

equilibrium – which mandates that the clockwise moment about the pivot
be equal to the anti-clockwise moment about the same pivot.

Since the two persons have different weights, varying the perpendicular
distances to the pivot is the only way for the clockwise and anti-clockwise
moment to be equal.
Thanks!
PREPARED BY:
BRAGAIS,
CREDITS: ANTONETTE
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