MEC101

STATICS OF RIGID BODIES

RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS OF
A FORCE

ENGR. ROGELIO FRETTEN C. DELA CRUZ, CE

INSTRUCTOR
As mentioned previously, depending on the
directions specified, there are infinite number of
pairs of oblique components of a certain force
vector that may be found.

However, it is much more convenient to

resolve a force into a pair of perpendicular
components.

Such rectangular components are then readily

combined with similarly oriented rectangular
components of other forces by adding these
components algebraically.
RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
OF A FORCE

Fx  F cos  Fy  F sin 
1. Determine the x and y components of each
force shown in the figure.
2. Compute the x and y components of force
F shown in the figure.
RESULTANT OF COPLANAR CONCURRENT
FORCES
The resultant force R of coplanar concurrent forces:

R  Rx  R y
2 2

Where: Rx   Fx
R y   Fy

Ry
The direction θ:   tan 1

Rx
1. Determine the magnitude and direction of the
resultant of the three forces shown in the
figure.
2. Determine the magnitude and direction of the
resultant of the three forces shown in the
figure.
COMPONENTS OF FORCES IN SPACE
The spatial counterpart of the parallelogram law is that
the resultant R of three concurrent spatial forces P, Q,
and F is the body diagonal of the rhomboid formed by
using these three forces as its initial sides.
This conclusion is the result of two applications of the
basic parallelogram law. One applied to find the an
intermediate resultant R1 of P and Q, and the other,
combining this intermediate resultant R1 with F to
determine the final resultant R.
Except for the fact that the forces are not coplanar, it
should be clear that the resultant R could also be formed
by the tip-to-tail sum of P, Q, and F.
RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS OF A FORCE
IN SPACE:

Same rule applies to get the resultant force R of

concurrent forces in space:
R  Rx  Ry  Rz
2 2 2

Rx   Fx ; Ry   Fy ; Rz   Fz
Proportionality of Force Components to Distance
Components:

Fx Fy Fz F
    Fm
x y z d

Fm is the value of the equal ratios and is known as the

force multiplier.
By repeated applications of the Pythagorean theorem,
the magnitudes of F and d are given by:

F  Fx  Fy  Fz
2 2 2

d x2  y 2  z 2
Also,
cos 2  x  cos 2  y  cos 2  z  1

Fx Fy Fz F
  
cos  x cos  y cos  z 1
1. The cable attached to the eyebolt shown in
the figure is pulled with the force F of
magnitude of 500 N. Determine the
rectangular components of this force.
2. Determine the resultant of the two forces
shown in the figure.
3. The vertical post is secured by three cables. The
cables are pre-tensioned so that the resultant of
the cable forces F, Q, and P is directed along
the z-axis. If F = 120 N, find P and Q.
END