Turning Moments - Fridge Physics

The size of the turning effect is called a turning moment. As Newton’s first law of motion states, an object will remain at rest if the forces are balanced. When the sum of the forces add to zero, a body will remain at rest or move at a constant velocity.

Demo

In this tutorial you will learn how to calculate the moments and apply the results to a real life situation for example forces acting on a see-saw.

The equation for this calculation is written like this:

$M = { \text F \; \text x \; \text D}$

Chilled practice question

The anticlockwise moment is is 75 Nm. What distance from the pivot must you place a 2.5 Kg mass for the clockwise and anticlockwise moments to equal ? Take gravity as 10N\Kg

Frozen practice question

You sit 2 m away from the pivot on a see-saw and your weight is 500 N. Your friend has a mass of 25 Kg. How far away from the pivot on the other side should they sit for the see-saw to balance ? Take gravity as 10N/Kg

Science in context

The size of the turning effect is called a turning moment.
Turning moment = force x perpendicular distance from the pivot.
As Newton’s first law of motion states, an object will remain at rest if the forces are balanced.
When the sum of the forces add to zero, a body will remain at rest or move at a constant velocity.

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