ME – 102 : Engineering Mechanics

Assignment # 2(Equilibrium)

5.4. Draw complete free-body diagrams for the member AB and for cylinder D. Neglect friction at
the contact surfaces of the cylinder. The weights of the cylinder and the member are denoted as
WD and WAB respectively.

5.10. The cantilever beams are pinned together at A. Draw free-body diagrams for each cantilever
beam.
5.14. Draw a free-body diagram of the whole apparatus and of each of its parts: AB, AC, BC and
D. include the weights of all bodies. Label forces.

5.15. Draw a free-body diagram of members CG, AG and the disc B. Include as the only weight
that of disc B. Label all forces. (Hint: Consider the pin at G as a separate free body.)
5.25. A block having a of mass of 500kg is held by five cables. What are the tensions in these
cables? Lower cables are identical and are identically connected at ends. (Can use symmetry
arguments – BC, BD are symmetric and BA, BC are also symmetric – to conclude that the
tensions in all the cables are equal.)

5.27. Find the supporting forces at A. (Ignore the angle 45°. It can be calculated to be 44.43°)
5.29. Find the supporting force systems for the beams shown. Note that there is a pin connection
at C. Neglect the weights of the beams.

5.31. What are the supporting forces at A and D for the frame shown? What are the forces in
members AB, BE and BC?
5.36. A thin hoop of radius 1m and weight 500 N rests on an inline. What friction force f at A is
needed for this configuration? What is the tension in wire CB?
5.46. A light rod CD is held in a horizontal position by a strong elastic hand AH (shock cord), which
acts like a spring in that it takes 103 N per meter of elongation of the band. The upper part of the
band is connected to a small wheel free to roll on a horizontal surface. What is the angle α needed
to support a 200 N load as shown?

5.68. Find the supporting force system for the cantilever beams connected to bar AB by pins.
(There are 10 unknowns and only 9 independent equations, the problem is indeterminate, and
cannot be solved using the principles you have learnt so far. However, an approximate solution
can be obtained by assuming that there is no horizontal reaction at the two supports. This is a
fairly good assumption because all the external forces are vertical, and the links are rigid.)

5.88. What force P is needed to hold the door in a horizontal position? The door weighs 50 Ib.
Determine the supporting forces at A and B. At A, there is a pin and at B there is a ball-and-socket
joint. (Hint- P can very easily be found by writing the scalar moment equation about line AB, for
which only its vertical component need be considered. For other unknowns, some assumptions
would be required, because the other unknowns are Ay, Az, MA,y, MA,z, Bx, By and Bz, for which
there are only 5 remaining equations. This makes the problem indeterminate. The problem can be
approximately solved by assuming that MA,y and MA,z are zero. This assumption is fair enough for
a rigid door because there would be no bending tendency at pin A. Another example of such type
of assumption is a cantilever beam with roller support at the free end. Though the problem is
indeterminate – there are 4 unknowns and only 3 equations – it can be approximately solved by
ignoring the bending moment at the built-in support.)
5.95. Find the values of F and C so that members AB and CD fail simultaneously. The maximum
load for AB is 15 kN and for CD is 22 kN. Neglect the weight of the members. (Hint- Note that AB
and CD are two-force members. So, BC is effectively a simply-supported beam, resting on rollers
at both the ends, with known roller reactions.)

5.116. Find the forces on the block of ice from the hook.; at A and F. (Hint- If you are also required
to find the force components at B, you can use symmetry arguments to conclude that the vertical
component must be zero. Make the FBD for both the tongs. All the corresponding forces on the
two tongs must be symmetric or of zero magnitudes if symmetry condition gets violated.)
5.119. A rod AB is connected by a ball-and-socket joint to a friction less sleeve at A, arid by a ball-
and-socket joint to a fixed position at B. What are the supporting forces at B and at A, if we neglect
the weight of AB? The 100-lb load is connected to the centre of AB. (Hint- Note that the force on
AB at A will be horizontal and will lie in the vertical plane defined by the vertical column and AB.
This is actually a 2D problem where all the forces must act in this plane. You can use symmetry
arguments to conclude this. So, the easiest way would be to first solve the problem in the 2D
plane, and then calculate the force components in the given coordinate system.)
5.144. What force F do the pliers develop on the pipe section D? Neglect friction. (Hint- Note that
a frictionless slot does not exert any force on the guide pin in a direction, tangential to the slot.)
5.146. A 20-m circular arch must withstand a wind load given for 0 < θ < π/2 as 𝑓 = 5000 (1 −
𝜃
) 𝑁/𝑚 where θ is measured in radians. Note that for θ > π/2, there is no loading. What are the
𝜋/2
supporting forces? (Hint- If you take moment of all the forces about the centre O, the wind load
will not come into the picture because it is given to be normal to the arc, everywhere.)
5.155. A bolt cutter has a force of 130 N applied at each handle. What is the force on the bolt from
the cutter edge? (Hint- FBD of the bolt will indicate that only vertical forces can be exerted on it.
Then, since AB is a two force member, there can only be vertical forces at the left ends of the links
which press the bolt. First, find out this force)