To keep a group of particles balanced, we need to make sure two things are true: the total force and the total moment acting on them must both be zero. This idea is really important when we study how things stay still, especially in building and design.
First, let’s look at the forces acting on the particles. For everything to stay balanced, all the forces need to add up to zero. This can be shown by this equation:
This means that for every force pulling on the system, there should be another force pulling back just as hard but in the opposite direction.
Imagine we have three forces acting on a ball. If Force A pulls the ball to the right, and Force B pulls it to the left, while Force C pulls it down, all these forces need to balance out perfectly so the ball doesn’t move.
Next, we look at moments, which are the turning effects caused by forces. For everything to stay still, the total moments around any point also need to be zero:
Let’s say you push one side of a seesaw. That push creates a moment, which can make the seesaw rotate. To keep everything stable, there need to be other forces or moments that can balance out that push exactly.
In the end, keeping everything in balance means we need to think about both the straight forces and the turning effects. How these forces and moments work together helps keep the group of particles steady and not moving, which is really important in designing and checking buildings and other structures in engineering.
To keep a group of particles balanced, we need to make sure two things are true: the total force and the total moment acting on them must both be zero. This idea is really important when we study how things stay still, especially in building and design.
First, let’s look at the forces acting on the particles. For everything to stay balanced, all the forces need to add up to zero. This can be shown by this equation:
This means that for every force pulling on the system, there should be another force pulling back just as hard but in the opposite direction.
Imagine we have three forces acting on a ball. If Force A pulls the ball to the right, and Force B pulls it to the left, while Force C pulls it down, all these forces need to balance out perfectly so the ball doesn’t move.
Next, we look at moments, which are the turning effects caused by forces. For everything to stay still, the total moments around any point also need to be zero:
Let’s say you push one side of a seesaw. That push creates a moment, which can make the seesaw rotate. To keep everything stable, there need to be other forces or moments that can balance out that push exactly.
In the end, keeping everything in balance means we need to think about both the straight forces and the turning effects. How these forces and moments work together helps keep the group of particles steady and not moving, which is really important in designing and checking buildings and other structures in engineering.