Turning Effect of a Force
Force · Moments
Syllabus tag: KCSE | Physics | Form 2 | Topic 13 Turning Effect of a Force
Lesson objectives
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
- Define the moment of a force and state its SI unit.
- State and apply the principle of moments.
- Solve problems on beams, including those with weight.
- Explain parallel forces, couples and applications of moments.
Summary
The moment of a force is the force multiplied by the perpendicular distance from the pivot, measured in newton metres (N m). The principle of moments states that for a body in equilibrium the sum of clockwise moments equals the sum of anticlockwise moments about any point. This one principle solves every problem in the topic.