What Are the Forces in Equilibrium for a Weight Hanging on a Rod?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a light rod in equilibrium supporting a weight, with forces acting at a hinge and a wire. Participants are tasked with drawing a force diagram and determining the hinge force and tension in the wire.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply equilibrium conditions and torque analysis but encounters difficulties in isolating the hinge force. Some participants suggest ignoring certain forces and question how to represent the vertical reaction at the hinge.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively discussing the components of forces involved and exploring the implications of ignoring specific weights. Guidance has been offered regarding the representation of forces, but no consensus has been reached on the correct approach to the problem.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of the rod being light, which allows for the neglect of the weight of the rod itself. The discussion also highlights the need to consider vertical reactions at the hinge.

laurids
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Homework Statement


A light rod is holding a weight with mass m in equilibrium. The rod is attached to the wall with a hinge and a wire as shown on the figure.

http://sveskekat.dk/files/uploads/phys_4.PNG

Problem:
Draw a force diagram of the rod and determine the force with which the hinge affects the rod and the tension force in the wire.

The Attempt at a Solution


I did the force diagram as shown on the figure, with the green arrows as the forces.
I want to determine
The force with which the hinge affects the rod, Fc.
The tension force in the wire, T.

I have that Ww = mg.

I wrote up the conditions for equilibrium,
[tex]\sum F_x = F_c - T cos(45) = 0[/tex]
[tex]\sum F_y = T sin(45) - W_r - mg = 0[/tex]

I do torque around the attachment point on the wall,
[tex]\sum \tau = 2amg + aW_r - aF_c = 0[/tex]

But trying to solve for e.g. [tex]F_c[/tex] now gives me
[tex]F_c = cos(45) \frac{F_c - mg}{sin(45)} = F_c - mg[/tex],
which is kinda bad. What am I doing wrong??
 
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Since it is given that the rod is light, you can ignore W_r. But you are forgetting the vertical reaction at O.
 
Hi Jay, thanks. I will ignore W_r then. How should the vertical reaction at O look like? Should it be another component, or should it be part of F_c?

Thanks.
 
Call it a component O_y, acting vertical, perpendicular to F_c (which you probably should be referring to as O_x instead of F_c).
 

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