Resultant and Equilibrant Forces

Esturco, Miguel S.; Garcia, Ian Thadeus S.; Gatchalian, Jeremiah S.; Katigbak, Jose Seatiel V.; Lacorte,
Alice L.
Group No. 3: 2JMT
09 September 2016
Mesias, Justin, Pascua, Esperanza

Introduction
Forces exist as a result of an interaction
between objects. Since force is a vector quantity, it
has both magnitude and direction. Vectors are
commonly represented using diagrams illustrated
through arrows. The resultant force is the vector sum
of two or more vectors. To accurately determine the
resultant vector, a force table is used. A force table is
a physics laboratory apparatus that consist of strings
attached on a center ring on which is acted upon by a
force.
In the experiment, the researchers are
expected to accurately balance the three weights
acting upon each other using a force table. The
experimenters should be able to manipulate the
angles successfully in order to balance the forces on
the weights. At the end of this experiment, the
researchers should be able to compute the equilibrant
forces in order to check if the gathered data of factors
would suffice the theories.
Theory
A resultant force is an individual force
combinative of a system of forces acting on a given
body. Significant with resultant force is the fact that it
has the same effect on the object as the original
system of forces. It is as if the same forces are
applied on the body when the original system is
disconnected and replaced with said resultant force.
To find the magnitude of the resultant force,
one could use:

Where,
R = Magnitude of resultant vector
= Direction of resultant vector
P = Magnitude of vector P
Q = Magnitude of vector Q
= Angle between two vectors
Then treat the summation of the X and Y
components as legs of a triangle. With this in mind,
the hypotenuse of the triangle created is equivalent to
the resultant force based on the head-to-tail method.
Thus, one could use the Pythagorean Theorem.
C2 = A2 + B2

To compute the direction of the resultant

force given the summation of all the X and Y
components of the system, one could use the law of
tangents. It is a statement about the relationship
between the tangents of two angles of a triangle and
the lengths of the opposing sides.
Equilibrant Force is defined as a force that
brings the body, of which a system of forces is
applied, to a state of equilibrium. It is in fact equal in
terms of magnitude and opposite in terms of the
direction of the resultant force. Equilibrant force is a
single force that, when applied to a moving body, will
bring it to a halt where in it is motionless.
To compute the equilibrant force, one could
simply equate it to the resultant force due to its
definition. When it comes to direction, it is exactly
180 from whatever the angle of the resultant force
is.
Results and Discussions
Table 1.A shows the data gathered from the
experiment using the force table. In the said
experiment, three yarns with weights were used and
manipulated to be able to get the ring stable and
make the center of the table. Thus, different
magnitude and different direction were applied to the
specific forces.
Table 1.A
Fi
F1
F2
F2
F3
F1
F3

Individual Forces
Magnitude
0.1444 N
0.1110 N
0.1110 N
0.8230 N
0.1444 N
0.8230 N

Direction
East
36 N of W
36 N of W
29 W of S
East
29 W of S

Table 1.B shows the forces that result when

two specific forces are combined.
Table 1.B
Resultant Forces (Experimental)
Ri
Magnitude
Direction
Fa
0.8230 N
29 E of N
Fb
0.1444 N
West
Fc
0.1110 N
36 S of E
Table 1.C shows the equilibrant forces
which are the forces that have the same magnitude as

the resultant forces but only pointing at the opposite

direction.
Table 1.C
Equilibrant Forces (Experimental)
Ei
Magnitude
Direction
FA
0.8230 N
29 W of S
FB
0.1444 N
East
FC
0.1110 N
36 N of W
Table 1.D shows the resultant forces that
were computed from the given data
Table 1.D
Ri
Fa
Fb
Fc

Resultant Forces (Computed)

Magnitude
Direction
0.0851 N
50.07 N of E
0.1638 N
8.9 N of W
0.0827 N
28.85 S of E

Conclusions and Recommendations

Questions and Answers
1) Differentiate the resultant and equilibrant two
forces.
The resultant is the vector sum of all the
individual vectors. It can be determined by adding
the individual forces together using vector addition
methods. Equilibrant is a vector that is the exact same
size as the resultant would be, but the equilibrant
points are exactly in the opposite direction.

3) If two forces with the same magnitude were

exactly in opposite directions, what is the
magnitude and the direction of their resultant?
What is the magnitude and direction of their
equilibrium?
The magnitude of both resultant and equilibrant
are zero and they will have no direction.
4) Use the component method to find the
magnitude and direction of the resultant of the
concurrent forces given below:
a)
b)
c)
d)

A = 2000 N at 0
B = 1500 N at 60
C = 1000 N at 150
D = 3800 N at 225

Given
A = 2000 N at 0
B = 1500 N at 60
C = 1000 N at
150
D = 3800 N at
225

xcomponent
2000
750

y-component

-866.03

500

-2687.01

-2687.01

-803.04

-887.97

0
1299.04

r = (803.042 + 887.972)
r = 1197.23 N
= tan-1(-887.97/-803.04)
= 47.9o (QIII)
= 47.9o + 180o = 227.9o

2) If three concurrent forces are in equilibrium,

what is the relation between any one of the three
forces and the resultant of the other two forces?

Therefore, the Resultant Force is 1197.23 N at 227.9o.

Whichever among the three concurrent force is

the equilibrant force of the two forces. They have the
same magnitude but are in the opposite direction and
their net force is zero.

[1] R. L. Timings, (1990). Mechanical Engineer's

Pocket Book

References