Question

xonsider a plywood square mounted on an axis that is perpendicular to the plane of the square and passes through the center of the square. if the square is 0.460 m on a side and is acted on by a 13.0-n force that lies in the plane of the square, determine the magnitude of the maximum torque such a force can produce.

Answer 1

The maximum torque that a 13.0 N force can produce on the plywood square is 8.47 Nm.

The lever arm is described as the perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to the line of action of the force.. The torque (τ) is calculated by multiplying the force by the lever arm

τ = F * d.

In the question, the maximum lever arm occurs when the force is applied at the farthest point from the axis of rotation, which is the corner of the square.

We have that the square has all sides equal to 0.460 m, the diagonal length can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem:

d_diag = √(0.460² + 0.460²)

= 0.652 m.

The maximum torque:

τ_max = F * d_max

τ_max = 13.0 N * 0.652 m

τ_max ≈ 8.47 Nm.