School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,

NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

LAB REPORT 06
NAME: SAAIM AHMED
SECTION: B
CMS ID: 417524
GROUP: 1

EXPERIMENT 06: “STUDY OF EQUILIBRIUM

CONDITION OF RIGID BODY WITH SETS OF
PARALLEL FORCES ACTING IN ONE PLANE”
OBJECTIVES

The major objectives of this lab are;

• To study the conditions that affect the equilibrium of a rigid body

• To learn about the functioning and working of rigid body equilibrium apparatus
• To apply the concepts of statics to solve the problem

APPARATUS

The apparatus for performing this experiment is;

• Rigid Body Equilibrium Apparatus

• Weights
• Ladder

• Slider (Rigid Body)

• Strings

Rigid Body Equilibrium Apparatus

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

THEORY

Rigid Body Equilibrium

❖ In the field of engineering mechanics, the study of rigid body equilibrium is essential for
understanding the balance and stability of solid objects.
“A rigid body is defined as an idealized object that does not deform under the action of
external forces.”
❖ The equilibrium of a body is defined as;
“Equilibrium refers to the state in which a rigid body is subjected to a set of forces and
torques, yet remains at rest or moves with a constant velocity.”
❖ Therefore, for equilibrium, 𝒂 = 𝟎
This fundamental principle forms the basis for various engineering applications, ranging from
structural analysis to mechanical design.
Conditions for Rigid Body Equilibrium
For a rigid body to be in a state of equilibrium, two key conditions must be satisfied:
Force Equilibrium: The vector sum of all the external forces acting on the rigid body must
be zero. This condition can be expressed mathematically as;
ΣF = 0
where ΣF represents the sum of all the external forces.
Moment Equilibrium: The sum of the moments (or torques) around any point must also be
zero. This condition can be expressed as;
ΣM = 0
where ΣM represents the sum of all the moments.
Rigid Body Equilibrium Apparatus
To analyze the equilibrium of a rigid body, various methods can be applied. One of the methods
is to use the rigid body equilibrium apparatus.

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

Construction
This apparatus consists of a ladder and a slider. The slider acts as a rigid body and moves
on the ladder. Two strings are attached to the bottom end of the ladder and gives the vertical
force 𝑽𝒂 and one of the horizontal forces acting on the system, 𝑯𝒂 . One string is attached to the
top end of the ladder and gives the second horizontal force 𝑯𝒃 .

Ladder And Slider

Working Mechanism
The ladder is held rigid by balancing the vertical and horizontal forces acting on it. So,
the ladder is said to be in an equilibrium. Changing the position of the slider changes the
magnitude of these forces which disturbs the equilibrium that has to be achieved again then. This
mechanism helps us to study the equilibrium conditions and how they vary under different load
and lengths.
Derivation of 𝑯𝒃
The forces acting on the ladder and slide in the equilibrium force apparatus can be given by the
following diagram;

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

𝑩
𝑯𝒃

𝜶 = 𝟒𝟓°

𝑽𝒂

𝑾𝟏

𝑯𝒂 𝑨

𝑯𝒂 𝑾𝟐

Now, moments across the point A is zero, so;

∑ 𝑴𝑨 = 𝟎

𝐿
𝐻𝐵 𝐿 cos 𝛼 − 𝑤1 sin 𝛼 − 𝑤2 𝑙 sin 𝛼 = 0
2
𝐿
𝐻𝐵 𝐿 cos 𝛼 = 𝑤1 sin 𝛼 + 𝑤2 𝑙 sin 𝛼 = 0
2
𝐿 sin 𝛼
𝐻𝐵 = (𝑤1 + 𝑤2 𝑙)
2 𝐿 cos 𝛼
𝟏 𝒍
𝑯𝑩 = ( 𝒘𝟏 + 𝒘𝟐 ) 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜶
𝟐 𝑳
Since the body is in equilibrium, the horizontal and vertical forces are balanced;
▪ ∑ 𝑭𝒙 = 0; −→ 𝑯𝒂 = 𝑯𝒃
▪ ∑ 𝑭𝒚 = 0; −→ 𝑽𝒂 = 𝒘𝟏 +𝒘𝟐

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

PROCEDURE

1) Set up the rigid body equilibrium system.

2) Ensure that the ladder makes an angle of 45° with the vertical axis. This angle is referred

to as ′𝜶′. So, 𝜶 = 𝟒𝟓°.

3) Measure the length of the ladder. This length will be called as ‘L’.

4) Now, we move our slider to the appropriate position. On the steel rod, markings are made

with an increment of 70mm. These markings help us to determine the position where the

slider should be placed.

5) When the slider is placed in its marked position, the distance of the center of the slider to

the bottom end of the ladder is referred to as ‘l’. Initially, we take the value of 𝒍 =

𝟏𝟏𝟎𝒎𝒎.

6) One of the strings attached to the bottom end of the ladder gives the vertical value of force

that is being applied on the system. This force is called as 𝑽𝒂 . In our case, the value of 𝑽𝒂

is fixed at 13.5N (1N hangar weight + 12.5 N weights).

7) The second string attached to the bottom end of ladder gives one of the horizontal forces

𝑯𝒂 . The string attached to the top end of the ladder gives 𝑯𝒃 . We add weights to the

hangars hung by these strings to vary the horizontal forces.

8) We keep on varying 𝑯𝒂 and 𝑯𝒃 by adding weights on both strings until and unless the

ladder becomes rigid at its both ends whilst maintaining a 𝟒𝟓° angle with the vertical axis.

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

9) Now, our body is in equilibrium where all the forces are balanced and there is no moment

present in the body.

10) Note the values of 𝑯𝒂 and 𝑯𝒃 . We notice that both these values are actually quite close

to each other. These values are the experimental values.

11) For the theoretical part, the derived formula for 𝑯𝒃 is used;

𝟏 𝒍
𝑯𝑩 = ( 𝒘𝟏 + 𝒘𝟐 ) 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜶
𝟐 𝑳
12) Finally, the experimental and theoretical values are compared to find the percentage error.

This is done by the formula;

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 − 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆

% 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆

13) Now, we change the position of the slider and move it up the ladder by 70mm as

designated by the markings. By repeating the above steps, the experimental and

theoretical values of 𝑯𝒂 and 𝑯𝒃 are compared and the percentage error is found.

14) This procedure is repeated for increments uptill 𝒍 = 𝟑𝟗𝟎𝒎𝒎.

15) Finally, a graph is built by plotting the calculated values of “𝑯𝒃 ” to the corresponding “l”

on the real axis.

READINGS AND CALCULATIONS

There are certain values that we have been provided beforehand;

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 875g = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟕𝟓 𝐤𝐠

𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 500g = 𝟎. 𝟓 𝐤𝐠

𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 560mm = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟔 𝐦

❖ From here, we calculate the weights of the ladder and the slider as;

𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 𝑾𝟏 = 𝟖. 𝟓𝟖𝑵

𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 = 𝑾𝟐 = 𝟒. 𝟗𝟎𝟓𝑵

❖ The value of 𝑽𝒂 is fixed at;

𝑽𝑨 = 𝟏𝟑. 𝟓𝑵

TABLE

Length of Slider 𝑯𝒂 Experimental Theoretical 𝑯𝒃

l (N) 𝑯𝒃 (N)
𝟏 𝒍
(mm) (N) o 𝑯𝑩 = (𝟐 𝒘𝟏 + 𝒘𝟐 𝑳) 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜶

110 5.2 5.3 5.25

180 5.7 5.9 5.86
250 6.2 6.2 6.48
320 6.8 7.0 7.09
390 7.4 7.3 7.71

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

GRAPH

The graph representing the relation between 𝑯𝒃 and l is as follows;

Hb-l Graph
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𝑯𝒃 (𝑁)

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

𝑙 (𝑚𝑚)

ERRORS

The deviation observed in the experimental and calculated values is given in the table below.
The percentage error is calculated by the following formula;

|𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 − 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆|

% 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆
Length of Slider Percentage Error in 𝑯𝒃
l (mm)
110 0.952%
180 0.682%
250 4.32%

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 School Of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering,
NUST
ME-115 Engineering Mechanics (Fall 2023)

320 1.26%
390 5.31%

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Therefore, the values of 𝑯𝒃 were calculated corresponding to the length of the slider ‘l’.
It is to be observed that the values obtained were quite accurate and contained a very small
amount of error. The small errors were mainly due to the following reasons;

o We ignored the friction of the pulleys

o Human Errors
o Wear and Tear of Apparatus

However, the errors were minute so we can say that the obtained results were precise and
accurate.

The 𝑯𝒃 − 𝒍 graph shows that a linear relation exists between the two quantities. As the
distance of the slider from the end of the ladder is increased, the value of horizontal force
required to balance out the moment of the ladder is also increased.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, we used the rigid body equilibrium apparatus to study about the equilibrium of the
rigid body. The concepts of statics were applied to reach the solution which ultimately helped us
to analyze the equilibrium and its conditions. All in all, this experiment explained to us about
the applications of the principles of statics in real-time.