A balanced lever has two weights on it, the first with mass 16kg and the second with mass 14kg. If the first weight is 2m from the fulcrum, how far is the second weight from the fulcrum?
1 Answer
Explanation:
The beam ends at the points of loading. It is not stated as such
The weight of the beam is discounted. No uniformly distributed load given.
'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the beam to be in equilibrium (balanced and not moving)
All forces and moments cancel out.
Let clockwise moments be positive
Let anticlockwise moments be negative
A moment is
The force of the 'Reaction' has moment arm length of 0. So this cancels itself out giving only:
So for the system to be in equilibrium (not moving)