Tag
Statics
Entries tagged statics.
4 entries
Loads, load paths, and free-body thinking
A load path is the actual route a force travels, member by member, from where it is applied to the ground or support that finally absorbs it, and free-body thinking is the method of isolating one member at a time to check whether that route can carry what is asked of it.
7 min
ConceptNormal force and contact constraints
The normal force is the perpendicular push a rigid surface supplies, adjusted to whatever value stops an object from passing through it, not a fixed force equal to weight.
7 min
ConceptStatic equilibrium
A rigid body genuinely at rest must satisfy two independent conditions at once: zero net force, so it does not start moving, and zero net torque, so it does not start turning.
7 min
ConceptTorque and rotational effect
Torque is the turning effect of a force, set by how much force you apply, how far from the pivot, and at what angle.
7 min