
A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:Ħ. A rightward force is applied to a book in order to move it across a desk with a rightward acceleration. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:ĥ. A flying squirrel is gliding (no wing flaps) from a tree to the ground at constant velocity. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:Ĥ. An egg is free-falling from a nest in a tree. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:ģ. Diagram the forces acting on the combination of gymnast and bar. The bar is supported by two ropes that attach to the ceiling. A gymnast holding onto a bar, is suspended motionless in mid-air. A free-body diagram for this situation looks like this:Ģ. Continue to review the the list of forces and their description and this page in order to gain a comfort with constructing free-body diagrams.ġ. If you have difficulty drawing free-body diagrams, then you ought to be concerned. See answer.Īnswers to the above exercise are shown here. Neglect air resistance. Diagram the forces acting upon the car.


A gymnast holding onto a bar, is suspended motionless in mid-air.Answers are shown and explained at the bottom of this page. If necessary, refer to the list of forces and their description in order to understand the various force types and their appropriate symbols.Īpply the method described in the paragraph above to construct free-body diagrams for the various situations described below. Finally, draw a box and add arrows for each existing force in the appropriate direction label each force arrow according to its type. Then determine the direction in which each force is acting. If given a description of a physical situation, begin by using your understanding of the force types to identify which forces are present.

Thus, to construct free-body diagrams, it is extremely important to know the various types of forces.

The only rule for drawing free-body diagrams is to depict all the forces that exist for that object in the given situation. There is no hard and fast rule about the number of forces that must be drawn in a free-body diagram. There will be cases in which the number of forces depicted by a free-body diagram will be one, two, or three. Objects do not necessarily always have four forces acting upon them. T he free-body diagram above depicts four forces acting upon the object. An example of a free-body diagram is shown at the right It is generally customary in a free-body diagram to represent the object by a box and to draw the force arrow from the center of the box outward in the direction that the force is acting. Each force arrow in the diagram is labeled to indicate the exact type of force. The direction of the arrow shows the direction that the force is acting. The size of the arrow in a free-body diagram reflects the magnitude of the force. These diagrams will be used throughout our study of physics. A free-body diagram is a special example of the vector diagrams that were discussed in an earlier unit. A light rope is attached to it and runs over a pulley.Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative magnitude and direction of all forces acting upon an object in a given situation. \): Block on the Table (Coupled Blocks)Ī block rests on the table, as shown.
