Three forces acting on a body are in equilibrium. When drawn head to tail they must
- A. lie along one straight line
- B. form a closed triangle
- C. all be equal in magnitude
- D. be mutually perpendicular
Explanation
A zero resultant means the head of the last vector coincides with the tail of the first, so the three vectors close a triangle. This triangle of forces lets an unknown force be found by scale drawing or by the sine rule. The three need not be equal, and they cannot be collinear unless two of them point the same way.
Related questions
Two forces of equal magnitude F act at an angle of 120 degrees to each other. Their resultant has magnitude
The minimum number of unequal coplanar forces whose vector sum can be zero is
The first condition of equilibrium requires that
A body can be in translational equilibrium yet still start rotating if
The resultant of two vectors is maximum when the angle between them is