If two equal and opposite forces are applied at the ends of a lever arm of length 4 m, what is the net torque about the center?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
If two equal and opposite forces are applied at the ends of a lever arm of length 4 m, what is the net torque about the center?
0 Nm
8 Nm
4 Nm
16 Nm
The net torque is zero because the forces are equal and opposite, resulting in no rotational effect.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: If two equal and opposite forces are applied at the ends of a lever arm of length 4 m, what is the net torque about the center?
Solution: The net torque is zero because the forces are equal and opposite, resulting in no rotational effect.
Steps: 8
Step 1: Understand what torque is. Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate.
Step 2: Identify the lever arm. In this case, the lever arm is 4 meters long.
Step 3: Recognize that there are two equal and opposite forces applied at the ends of the lever arm. This means one force is pushing in one direction and the other force is pushing in the opposite direction.
Step 4: Determine the point about which we are calculating the torque. Here, we are calculating the torque about the center of the lever arm.
Step 5: Calculate the torque produced by each force. Torque is calculated as the force multiplied by the distance from the pivot point (center) to where the force is applied.
Step 6: Since the forces are equal and opposite, the torque produced by one force will be equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the torque produced by the other force.
Step 7: Add the torques together. Since one torque is positive and the other is negative, they cancel each other out.
Step 8: Conclude that the net torque about the center is zero because the equal and opposite forces do not create any rotational effect.
