ENGZ0002

Forces in Equilibrium
P17176766
Anna strzelecka
07/2/18
Objectives
 Using newton’s laws to investigate equilibrium.
 Investigating forces in equilibrium and calculating resultant forces.

Introduction
Equilibrium is a state in which all forces acting upon an object are balanced.
For the forces to be balanced, the forces on the right must balance the ones on
the left, and the forces going upwards must balance the ones going
downwards. The forces don’t necessarily have to be equal. The net force has to
be zero and acceleration also has to be 0m/s2 [1].
Equilibrium is very important, especially in building design, bridge design, or
any real life structures that needs to maintain their shapes. For a bridge to be
able to maintain its shape and not break apart, all parts need to be in static
equilibrium without any external forces acting upon it [2].
A force can be defined as a push or pull interaction between two objects,
which when unopposed can change the motion of the objects [3].
Air-bags in cars are an example of the use of forces and momentum in real life.
Air bags are used in cars because they are able to reduce the effect of the force
of an object in a collision. Air bags accomplish this by extending the time
required to stop the momentum of the driver and passenger. In the event of a
collision, the driver and passenger will keep travelling forward according to
newton’s first law, until they are stopped by the force of hitting the windshield.
The motion requires a large amount of force to be applied over a short amount
of time, if instead they hit an air bag, that time is increased and the force of
the impact is decreased [4].
Other application of forces in real life include; the braking force of a vehicle
which brings it to a stop, the gravitational forces that act on us when we stand
still and the forces we exert on objects when we push or pull them.
Apparatus
1. Force Board, with friction free pulleys
2. Hangers and masses
3. Light-weight Cord
4. Plain A-4 paper
5. Protractor.

Figure 1.Photo of force board.

Method.
1. Made sure the pulleys were not tangled with each other and could move
easily over the pulleys.
2. Added three hangers on the end of three different cord, each hanger
had the same mass on it.
3. Carefully put the a4 paper behind the cords on the force board at the
intersection of the three cords, copied the arrangement of the cords
unto the paper. The masses attached to each cord is also recorded.
4. Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 using three unequal masses and four unequal
masses.
 Results.
Below are the diagrams of the three force experiments.

Figure 2. Diagram of three equal forces.

Resolving the forces to horizontal and vertical components for three equal
forces.
To resolve the forces to horizontal and vertical components, the masses had to
be converted to forces, the equation F=ma was used to do this, where F is
force, m is the mass used and a is acceleration due to gravity (9.81).
Horizontal= 0.88cos30 – 0.88cos30 = 0
Ans = 0 N.

Vertical= -0.88 + 0.88sin30 + 0.88sin30 = 0

Ans = 0 N.

Resultant= √ 02 +√ 02 = 0

Angle of resultant=0
Figure 3. Diagram of three unequal forces.
Resolving the forces to horizontal and vertical components for three unequal
forces.
To resolve the forces to horizontal and vertical components, the masses had to
be converted to forces, the equation F=ma was used to do this, where F is
force, m is the mass used and a is acceleration due to gravity (9.81).

Horizontal= 0.59cos45 – 0.88cos62 = 0

Ans = 4.06 x 10-3 N.

Vertical= -1.18 + 0.59sin45 + 0.88sin62 = 0

Ans = 0.0142 N.

Resultant= √ 4.06 x 10−32 +√ 0.01422 = 0.0148 N

0.0142
Angle of resultant= Tan-1 4.06 x 10−3 =74.0 °
Figure 4. Diagram of four unequal forces.
Resolving the forces to horizontal and vertical components for four unequal
forces.
To resolve the forces to horizontal and vertical components, the masses had to
be converted to forces, the equation F=ma was used to do this, where F is
force, m is the mass used and a is acceleration due to gravity (9.81).

Horizontal= 0.49cos65 + 0.78cos15 – 1.37cos44 = 0

Ans = -0.025 N.

Vertical= -1.18 - 0.78sin15 + 0.49sin65 + 1.37sin44 = 0

Ans = 0.014 N.

Resultant= √ 0.0252 + √ 0.0142=¿ 0.029 N

0.014
Angle of resultant= Tan-1 0.025 =29.2 °
 Below are two made up force systems with the horizontal and vertical
components calculated. The first has 8 unequal forces and the second has nine.

Figure 5. Diagram of 8 unequal forces.

Resolving the forces to horizontal and vertical components for eight unequal
forces.
Horizontal= 5cos21 + 10cos40 – 16cos71 – 18cos17 – 20cos37 – 14cos73 +
7cos63 = 0
Ans = -22.4N

Vertical= -11 - 7sin27 - 14sin20 - 20sin37 + 18sin17 + 16sin71 + 10sin40 +

5sin21 = 0
Ans = -2.39N

Resultant= √ −22.42 + √−2.392=¿ 27.27 N

−2.39
Angle of resultant= Tan-1 −22.4 =6.1 °
Figure 6. Diagram for 9 unequal forces
Resolving the forces to horizontal and vertical components for nine unequal
forces.
Horizontal= 9 + 5cos46 + 6cos80 – 10cos52 – 3cos28 – 18 - 12cos46 + 8cos46=0
Ans = -16.07N

Vertical= -15 + 5sin46 + 6sin80 + 10sin52 + 3sin28 - 12sin46 - 8sin46 = 0

Ans = -10.59N

Resultant= √ −16.072 + √ −10.592=¿ 12.09 N

−10.59
Angle of resultant= Tan-1 −6.07 =60.2°
Discussion.
1. Equilibrium is a state in which all forces acting upon an object are
balanced.
2. In the first part of the experiment, which involved three equal masses of
90g, the forces where in equilibrium. This resulted in a resultant force of
0 when the forces of horizontal and vertical components were
calculated, both of which were 0. Experiment two and three which
involved three unequal masses and four unequal masses where both not
in equilibrium.
3. The horizontal and vertical components of the system with three equal
masses came out to be 0. This verifies that the system was in
equilibrium. The system with three unequal forces had a resultant force
of 0.0148N, this verifies the system was not in equilibrium. The system
with four unequal masses had a resultant force of 0.029N, this also
verifies the system was not in equilibrium.
4. Possible experimental errors included friction on the pulleys, the mass of
the string, and during the experiment it was very easy to move the
strings and finally the accuracy of using a ruler and protractor to
calculate the angles. To reduce these errors there are a few things that
could be done. Friction free pulleys could be used and the mass of the
string could be taken into account.

Conclusion.
The aim of the experiments was to understand forces in equilibrium. The
experiment consisted of three parts, the first part was a system with three
equal masses of 90g, the second part was a system with three unequal masses
and the final part was a system with four unequal masses. The results were
transferred unto paper as diagrams and the angles were calculated. The
equation F=ma was used to convert the masses to forces. The horizontal and
vertical components were calculated for each system. The system with three
equal masses had a resultant force of 0 which proved the system was in
equilibrium. The other two had resultant forces of 0.0148 and 0.029 N
respectively. This proved both systems were not in equilibrium, which is a state
in which the forces acting upon an object is balanced.
References.

[1]"Equilibrium and Statics", Physicsclassroom.com, 2018. [Online]. Available:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vectors/Lesson-3/Equilibrium-and-Statics.
[Accessed: 12- Feb- 2018].

[2]"Why is static equilibrium important? | Socratic", Socratic.org, 2018. [Online].

Available: https://socratic.org/questions/why-is-static-equilibrium-important. [Accessed:
12- Feb- 2018].

[3]"Force", En.wikipedia.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force. [Accessed: 12- Feb- 2018].

[4]"Real-World Applications", Physicsclassroom.com, 2018. [Online]. Available:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/momentum/Lesson-1/Real-World-Applications.
[Accessed: 12- Feb- 2018].