HOMEWORK PROBLEMS

Week 2: Due Friday, 19 September, 2014

1. Find the reaction forces exerted on the structure ABCDE in Figure 1 by the pin at A and by
the frictionless roller at E. Assume that P is a known force.

All dimensions are in meters.

Figure 1

2 The frame in Figure2 is loaded by a force P = 2 kN. Find the horizontal and vertical components of the reaction at the pin B and the tension in the cable AE. The pulley at C is of radius
60 mm and is supported in frictionless bearings.

All dimensions are in mm.

Figure 2

3. The frictionless roller at B in Figure 3 rolls against a plane inclined at = 30o to the
horizontal. Find the reaction forces at the frictionless pin A and at B, and express them as
Cartesian vectors.
500 N
200

200

300

All dimensions are in mm.

Figure 3

4. In Figure 4, The uniform rod AB is of weight W and length L and the end B is attached by
a weightless rope BC to the wall at C. The roller at A slides in a vertical groove and that at B
on a horizontal plane. There is no friction at either A or B.
Draw a free-body diagram of the body AB and hence determine the tension in the rope.

30 o
B

30 o

Figure 4

5*. A thin strip is wrapped around two rollers of diameter d and then stretched by two forces
F . The rollers are held in place between two blocks, as shown in Figure 5. Assume there is no
friction between the strip, rollers and blocks.
(i) Find the reaction forces between the rollers and the blocks as a function of F, d and h.
(ii) Find the normal reaction force between the two rollers.

Figure 5
6. Find all the components (forces and moments) of the reaction at the built-in support A for
the L-shaped beam of Figure 6.

z
x
y
L

B
F
L
C

Figure 6
5

7*. The shaft AD in Figure 7 supports two pulleys at B and C of radius 200 mm and 250 mm
respectively. The shaft is supported in frictionless bearings at A and D and is rotating clockwise
(when viewed from the right) at a constant speed of 300 rpm. Only bearing A can support
thrust. The tensions T1 = 200 N, T2 = 400 N, and T3 = 300 N. The distances AB = 120
mm, BC = 150 mm, and CD = 120 mm. Find the tension T4 and the reaction forces at the
bearings.

Figure 7

8**. Figure 8 shows a uniform door of weight 300 N supported on two hinges A, B. Only the
lower hinge B carries thrust. Due to an error during installation, hinge A is located 5 mm to the
right of the correct position which would be vertically above B. If each hinge opposes rotation
by a frictional moment of 0.15 Nm, is this sufficient to ensure that the door will remain in the
position illustrated with the door perpendicular to the wall?

1.9
2.3
B
0.2
1.0

All dimensions are in meters

Figure 8

9. Figure 9 shows two rectangular blocks, A and B, each of weight 200 N, which rest one on
top of the other. The blocks are also connected by a cable which passes around a frictionless
pulley C. A force F is now applied to the upper block A as shown. Find the value of F at
which the blocks will start to move if the coefficient of friction is 0.3 at the interface between
the blocks and 0.4 at the interface between the lower block and the ground.

F
A

C
B

Figure 9
10* In Figure 10, the disk is homogeneous and has a mass of 5 kg and the bar AB can be
regarded as weightless. If the coefficient of friction at C is 0.2, what is the maximum downward
force P that can be applied without slip.

All dimensions are in mm.

Figure 10