UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

Faculty of Pharmacy
Department of Medical Technology

Experiment No. 4: Resultant and Equilibrant Forces
IIF MT Group 4
Jea Mea Anne Go, Ada Marielle Ignacio, Masahiro Kuronaga Jr., Charisse Anne Labor, Arturo
Lacuesta Jr., Christine Dharryl Leal

ABSTRACT
The resultant force is the vector sum of two
or more vectors. It is the result of adding
two or more vectors together.[1] When two
or more forces acting on an object in a
straight line then we can add or subtract to
get the resultant force on the object.[2] The
equilibrant force is that force which produces
equilibrium. It is always equal to but
opposite the resultant force. Thus, in order
to determine the equilibrant force, you must
first find the resultant force.[3] In this
experiment, we used a Force table in which
three stacks of coins/washers are attached
to a string which are then attached to the
Force table by the pulleys and the rings on
it. The stacks of coins are then balanced.
These are balanced if the ring at the centre
of the Force table is at the aligned to the
circle situated at the middle of the table. By
getting the data obtained from the
experiment, the equilibrant (experimental),
and resultant (experimental; computed) are
then computed.
GUIDE QUESTIONS

1) Differentiate the resultant and equilibrant of
two forces.
A resultant force would cause a
stationary object to start moving or an
object with a given velocity to speed up
or slow down or change directions such
that velocity of the object changes. It is
usually computed by the component
method given two or more known
forces. If a resultant force acts on an
object then that object can be brought
into equilibrium by applying an
additional force that exactly balances
this resultant. Such a force called the
equilibrant force acting on the object.
Therefore, the equilibrant force is the
negative vector of the resultant
force.[4]

2) If three concurrent forces are in equilibrium,
what is the relation between any one of the
three forces and the resultant of the other
two forces?
Any of the three forces is the opposite
of the resultant of the other two forces.
They have the same magnitude but
different directions.

3) If two forces with the same magnitude were
exactly in opposite directions, what is the
magnitude and direction of their resultant?
What is the magnitude and direction of their
equilibrant?
The resultant of the magnitude of the
two forces will be equal to zero
Newtons. It will also have no direction.
Since its resultant is zero, it will have
no magnitude and direction for the
quilibrant.
4) Use the component method to find the
magnitude an direction of the resultant of
the following forces.
A= 2000.0 N at 0
B= 1500.0 N at 60
C= 1000.0 N at 150
D= 3800.0 N at 225

Magnitude(N
)
Directio
n
x y
F
A
2000.0 0 2000.0 0
F
B
1500.0 60 750.00 1299.0
F
C
1000.0 150 -866.03 500.00
F
D
3800.0 225
-
2687.
0
2687.
0

Fx

Fy

-803.04 -887.97

R =

R = 1197.2 N

= Tan
-1
|

|
= Tan
-1
|

|
= 47.9
= 47.9 + 180
= 227.9

Resultant force: 1197.2 N, 227.9

5) A body weighing 100.0N is suspended by a
rope. A second rope attached to the body is
drawn aside horizontally until the
suspended rope makes an angle of 30 with
vertical. Find the tension in each rope.


Fy = 0
T
1
+ T
2
+ Wt = 0
0.8660 T
1
+ 0 100 N = 0
0.8660 T
1
= 100 N
T
1
= 115.5 N


Fx = 0

T
1
+ T
2
+ Wt = 0
0.5 T
1
T
2
+ 0 = 0
T
2
= 0.5 T
1
T
2
= (0.5) (115.5 N)

T
2
= 57.75 N




CONCLUSION
Therefore, the resultant force is computed
between two forces. On the other hand, the
equilibrant force is equal in magnitude but
opposite in direction from the resultant of
two forces on the Force table. They balance
each other out on the Force table for the ring
in the centre be aligned on the centre of the
table.

SOURCES
[1]http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class
/vectors/Lesson-1/Resultants
[2]http://www.icoachmath.com/physics/de
finition-of-resultant-force.html
[3]http://www.emsb.qc.ca/laurenhill/physi
cs/AnsPhysics%20Ex-14.pdf
[4]http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/e
ssay-on/Physics-Formal-Report-Resultant-
And/29071
x = r cos y = r sin
T
1 =
T
1
N,
60
0.5 T
1
0.8660 T
1

T
2 =
T
2
N,
180
- T
2
0
Wt
=
100 N,
270
0 -100
T
1
+ T
2
+
Wt

Fx
=
-0.5 T
1 +
T
2

Fy =

0.8660 T
2
- 100