QUESTION BANK 1: FORCE AND FORCE SYSTEM

(I am going to publish a question bank for EME-102/EME-202 of 1st yr. MTU; Greater Noida. Some pages from the book .......Subhankar Karmakar)

QUESTION BANK: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

by Er. Subhankar Karmakar

Unit: 1 (Force System)

VERY SHORT QUESTIONS (2 marks):

1)      What is force and force system?

Ans: A force is a physical quantity having magnitude as well as direction. Therefore, it is a   vector quantity. It is defined as an "external agency" which produces or tends to produce or destroys or tends to destroy the motion when applied on a body.

Its unit is Newton (N) in S.I. systems and dyne in C.G.S. system.

When two or more forces act on a body or particle, it is called force system. Therefore, a force system is a collection of two or more forces.

2)      What is static equilibrium? What are the different types of static equilibrium?

Ans: A body is said to be in static equilibrium when there is no change in position as well as no rotation exist on the body. So to be in equilibrium process, there must not be any kind of motions ie there must not be any kind of translational motion as well as rotational motion.

We also know that to have a linear translational motion we need a net force acting on the object towards the direction of motion, again to induce an any kind of rotational motion, a net moment must exists acting on the body. Further it can be said that any kind of complex motion can be resolved into a translational motion coupled with a rotating motion.

“Therefore a body subjected to a force system would be at rest if and only if the net force as well as the net moment on the body is zero.”

There are three types of Static Equilibrium

1.      Stable Equilibrium

2.      Unstable Equilibrium

3.      Neutral Equilibrium

3)      What are the characteristics of a force?

Ans: A force has four (4) basic characteristics.

·         Magnitude: It is the value of the force. It is represented by the length of the arrow that we use to represent a force.

·         Direction: A force always acts along a line, which is called as the “line of action”. The arrow head we used to represent a force is the direction of that force.

·         Nature or Sense: The arrow head also represent the nature of a force. A force may be a pull or a push. If a force acts towards a particle it will be a push and if the force acts away from a point it is pull.

·         Point of Application: It is the original location of a point on a body where the force is acting. 

4)      What are the effects of a force acting on a body?

Whenever a force acts on a body or particle, it may produce some external as well as internal effects or changes.

·         A force may change the state or position of a body by inducing motion of the body. (External effect)

·         A force may change the size or shape of an object when applied on it. It may deform the body thus inducing internal effects on the body.

·         A force may induce rotational motion into a body when applied at a point other than its center of gravity.

·         A force can make a moving body into an equilibrium state at rest.

5)      What is composition and resolution of forces?

Ans: Composition of forces: Composition or compounding is the procedure to find out single resultant force of a force system

Resolution of forces: Resolution is the procedure of splitting up a single force into number of components without changing the effect of the same.

6)      What is Resultant and Equilibrant?

Ans: Resultant: The resultant of a force system is the Force which produces same effect as the combined forces of the force system would do. So if we replace all components of the force by the resultant force, then there will be no change in effect.

The Resultant of a force system is a vector addition of all the components of the force system. The magnitude as well as direction of a resultant can be measured through analytical method.

Equilibrant: Any concurrent set of forces, not in equilibrium, can be put into a state of equilibrium by a single force. This force is called the Equilibrant. It is equal in magnitude, opposite in sense and co-linear with the resultant. When this force is added to the force system, the sum of all of the forces is equal to zero.

7)      Explain the principle of Transmissibility?

Ans: The principle of transmissibility states “the point of application of a force can be transmitted anywhere along the line of action, but within the body.”

The fig 3 a shows a force F acting at a point of application A and fig 3 b, the same force F acts along the same line of action but at a different point of action at B and both are equivalent to each other.