4/21/2017 WhatisaMoment?

WhatisaMoment?
TheMomentofaforceisameasureofitstendencytocausea
bodytorotateaboutaspecificpointoraxis.Thisisdifferentfrom
thetendencyforabodytomove,ortranslate,inthedirectionofthe
force.Inorderforamomenttodevelop,theforcemustactuponthe
bodyinsuchamannerthatthebodywouldbegintotwist.This
occurseverytimeaforceisappliedsothatitdoesnotpassthrough
thecentroidofthebody.Amomentisduetoaforcenothavingan
equalandoppositeforcedirectlyalongit'slineofaction.

Imaginetwopeoplepushingonadooratthedoorknobfrom
oppositesides.Ifbothofthemarepushingwithanequalforcethenthereisastateofequilibrium.Ifoneofthem
wouldsuddenlyjumpbackfromthedoor,thepushoftheotherpersonwouldnolongerhaveanyoppositionand
thedoorwouldswingaway.Thepersonwhowasstillpushingonthedoorcreatedamoment.

ElementsofaMoment
Themagnitudeofthemomentofaforceactingaboutapointor
axisisdirectlyproportinoaltothedistanceoftheforcefromthe
pointoraxis.Itisdefinedastheproductoftheforce(F)andthe
momentarm(d).Themomentarmorleverarmisthe
perpendiculardistancebetweenthelineofactionoftheforceand
thecenterofmoments.

Moment=ForcexDistanceorM=(F)(d)
TheCenterofMomentsmaybetheactualpointaboutwhichtheforcecausesrotation.Itmayalsobea
referencepointoraxisaboutwhichtheforcemaybeconsideredascausingrotation.Itdoesnotmatteraslongas
aspecificpointisalwaystakenasthereferencepoint.Thelattercaseismuchmorecommonsituationin
structuraldesignproblems.

Amomentisexpressedinunitsoffootpounds,kipfeet,
newtonmeters,orkilonewtonmeters.Amomentalsohasa
senseAclockwiserotationaboutthecenterofmomentswillbe
consideredapositivemomentwhileacounterclockwise
rotationaboutthecenterofmomentswillbeconsidered
negative.Themostcommonwaytoexpressamomentis

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Theexampleshowsawrenchbeingappliedtoanut.A100poundforceisapplied
toitatpointC,thecenterofthenut.Theforceisappliedatanxdistanceof12
inchesfromthenut.ThecenterofmomentscouldbepointC,butcouldalsobe
pointsAorBorD.

MomentaboutC
ThemomentarmforcalculatingthemomentaroundpointCis12inches.The
magnitudeofthemomentaboutpointCis12inchesmultipliedbytheforceof100
lbstogiveatotalmomentof1200inchlbs(or100ftlbs).

MomentArm(d)=12inches

Magnitude(F)=100lbs

Moment=M=100lbsx12in.=1200inlbs

Similarly,wecanfindthemomentsaboutanypointinspace.

Moment@ A B D
MomentArm 8inches 2inches 0inches
MagnitudeofF 100pounds 100pounds 100pounds
TotalMoment 800inpounds 200inpounds 0inpounds

Amomentcausesarotationaboutapointoraxis.IfthemomentistobetakenaboutapointduetoaforceF,
theninorderforamomenttodevelop,thelineofactioncannotpassthroughthatpoint.Ifthelineofactiondoes
gothroughthatpoint,themomentiszerobecausethemagnitudeofthemomentarmiszero.Suchwasthecase
forpointDinthepreviouswrenchpoblem.Thetotalmomentwaszerobecausethemomentarmwaszeroas
well.

Asanotherexample,letusassumethat200poundforceis
appliedtothewrenchasindicated.Themomentofthe200
poundforceappliedatCiszerobecause:

M=Fxd=200lbsx0in=0inlbs

Inotherwords,thereisnotendencyforthe200poundforceto
causethewrenchtorotatethenut.Onecouldincreasethe
magnitudeoftheforceuntiltheboltfinallybrokeoff(shear
failure).

ThemomentaboutpointsX,Y,andZwouldalsobezero
becausetheyalsolieonthelineofaction.
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Amomentcanalsobeconsideredtobetheresultof
forcesdetouringfromadirectlinedrawnbetweenthe
pointofloadingofasystemanditssupports.Inthis
case,theblueforceisaneccentricforce.Inorderforit
toreachthebaseofthecolumn,itmustmakeadetour
throughthebeam.Thegreaterthedetour,thegreater
themoment.Themostefficientstructuralsystemshave
theleastamountofdetourspossible.Thiswillbe
discussedinmoredetailinLecture37andlater
courses.

Therearecasesinwhichitiseasiertocalculatethemomentsofthecomponenetsofaforcearoundacertain
pointthanitistocalculatethemomentoftheforceitself.Itcouldbethatthedeterminationoftheperpendicular
distanceoftheforceismoredifficultthandeterminingtheperpendiculardistanceofcomponentsoftheforce.
Themomentofseveralforcesaboutapointissimplythealgebraicsumoftheircomponentmomentsaboutthe
samepoint.Whenaddingthemomentsofcomponenets,onemusttakegreatcaretobeconsistantwiththesense
ofeachmoment.Itisoftenprudenttonotethesensenexttothemomentwhenundertakingsuchproblems.

CombinedMoments
MomentsonaBeam

CommonMistakes
Whenaddingthemomentsofcomponenets,onemusttakegreatcaretobeconsistantwiththesenseofeach
moment.Itisoftenprudenttonotethesensenexttothemomentwhenundertakingsuchproblems.

FrequentlyAskedQuestions
Anydifficultywithcalculatingamomentcanusuallybetracedtooneofthefollowing:

Thecenterofmomentshasnotbeencorrectlyestablishedorclearlyunderstood.
TheassumedmomentarmisnotthePERPENDICULARdistancebetweenthelineofactionoftheforce
andthecenterofmoments.
Thedirection,orsense,oftherotationhasbeenignoredormisunderstood.

QuestionsForThought
WhatisthemomentaboutpointBandaboutpointDforbothofthecasesshowninthewrenchexampleabove?
Howcouldaddinganextensiontotheendofthewrenchhelpturnarustedbolt?Whatkindofstructuralsystems
wouldhavetheleastnumberof"detours?"

Problems

AssociatedReadings

Shaeffer,R.E.ElementaryStructuresforArchitectsandBuilders.pp.3339.

Copyright1995,1996byChrisH.LuebkemanandDonaldPeting
Copyright1996,1997,1998byChrisH.Luebkeman

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