Solving Moments and Torque Problems

[A_lilah]

Homework Statement

Hello~ I just had a general question about moments and finding them~ I have no idea how to! In my statics class the professor gave us the Moment about o = r X force, but it gets confusing with more than one vector on more than one plane... and there is also this thing everyone is supposed to do with their right hand to get the direction... (?)

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

Any explanations would be great! Thanks

 

[member 553083]

~ Moments are basically a measure of how much a force is trying to rotate an object around a given point. The equation your professor gave you, M = r x F, is the mathematical expression for this. Here, M is the moment, r is the vector from the center of rotation to the point where the force is applied, and F is the force vector. The "thing everyone is supposed to do with their right hand" actually refers to the Right-Hand Rule. This rule states that if you curl the fingers of your right hand in the direction of the vector r, then your thumb will point in the direction of the vector F. This is useful for visualizing the directions of the two vectors, and can be helpful when calculating the moment. Hope this helps!