Two forces acting on a particle may be replaced by a single resultant obtained by drawing the diagonal of a parallelogram whose sides equal the given forces. This statement is known as?

Two forces acting on a particle may be replaced by a single resultant obtained by drawing the diagonal of a parallelogram whose sides equal the given forces. This statement is known as?

• A. Parallelogram Law
• B. Principle of Transmissibility
• C. Pappus Propositions
• D. Varignon's Theorem

Answer: (A)

Vector addition of forces is represented by the parallelogram rule: when two forces act at the same point, their resultant is the diagonal of the parallelogram formed by the two force vectors. Place the two forces with a common tail at the point of application; the line from that point to the opposite corner of the parallelogram is the resultant. The magnitude of this resultant is F_R = sqrt(F1^2 + F2^2 + 2 F1 F2 cos theta), where theta is the angle between the forces, and its direction is along that diagonal. Because forces can be moved along their lines of action without changing their effect on a particle (transmissibility), the parallelogram rule applies to finding the combined effect of two concurrent forces. This is why the statement is known as the parallelogram law.

Vector addition of forces is represented by the parallelogram rule: when two forces act at the same point, their resultant is the diagonal of the parallelogram formed by the two force vectors. Place the two forces with a common tail at the point of application; the line from that point to the opposite corner of the parallelogram is the resultant. The magnitude of this resultant is F_R = sqrt(F1^2 + F2^2 + 2 F1 F2 cos theta), where theta is the angle between the forces, and its direction is along that diagonal. Because forces can be moved along their lines of action without changing their effect on a particle (transmissibility), the parallelogram rule applies to finding the combined effect of two concurrent forces. This is why the statement is known as the parallelogram law.