Forces and Equilibrium

A-Level Mathematics· Unit 3: Mechanics 1, Topic 2· 25 min read

1. Resolving Forces into Components★★☆☆☆⏱ 8 min

Any force acting at an angle to a set of reference axes can be split into two perpendicular components. This simplifies calculating net force, and is the first step for almost all force problems in 2D.

📘 Definition

Force Components

$F_{x}, F_{y}$

Two perpendicular vectors that add together to give the original force, aligned to your chosen axes.

Example:

A 10 N force at 30° to the horizontal has $F_{x} = 10 cos 3 0^{\circ}$ and $F_{y} = 10 sin 3 0^{\circ}$

📐 Worked Example

Resolve a 25 N force acting parallel to a slope inclined at 20° to the horizontal, into horizontal and vertical components.

1
The force is parallel to the slope, so it makes a 20° angle with the horizontal.
2
Calculate the horizontal component:
3
$F_x = 25 \cos 20^\circ \approx 25 \times 0.9397 = 23.5 \text{ N}$
4
Calculate the vertical component:
5
$F_y = 25 \sin 20^\circ \approx 25 \times 0.3420 = 8.55 \text{ N}$
6
The components are 23.5 N (horizontal) and 8.55 N (vertical).

Exam tip:

For inclined plane problems, always choose axes parallel and perpendicular to the slope. This means you do not need to resolve the normal reaction or friction.

2. Conditions for Equilibrium★★☆☆☆⏱ 7 min

For a particle to be in equilibrium, its acceleration is zero. By Newton's first law, this means the net (resultant) force acting on the particle is zero in all directions. This gives two simple equations for 2D problems.

📘 Definition

Static Equilibrium

A state where the particle is stationary, with zero net force and zero acceleration.

For any 2D problem, the equilibrium conditions are: sum of all forces in the $x$ -direction = 0, and sum of all forces in the $y$ -direction = 0. You just need to assign positive and negative directions for each axis.

📐 Worked Example

A 4 kg particle rests in equilibrium on a smooth horizontal plane. It is pulled left by a horizontal force $P$ , and right by a 10 N force at 30° above the horizontal. Find $P$ .

1
Draw your force diagram: weight $4 g$ N down, normal reaction $R$ up, $P$ left, 10 N force right and up.
2
Take right as the positive horizontal direction, apply equilibrium:
3
$\sum F_x = 0 \implies 10\cos 30^\circ - P = 0$
4
Solve for $P$ :
5
$P = 10 \times \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} = 5\sqrt{3} \approx 8.66 \text{ N}$

3. Equilibrium on Inclined Planes★★★☆☆⏱ 10 min

Inclined plane equilibrium is one of the most common exam questions for this topic. Only the weight of the particle needs to be resolved when you choose axes parallel and perpendicular to the slope.

📐 Worked Example

A 12 kg box rests in equilibrium on a rough plane inclined at 30° to the horizontal. Find the magnitude of the frictional force acting on the box.

1
Take axes parallel and perpendicular to the slope. Resolve the weight into components:
2
$\text{Parallel: } 12g \sin 30^\circ, \quad \text{Perpendicular: } 12g \cos 30^\circ$
3
Friction acts up the slope to oppose the box slipping down. Apply equilibrium for parallel forces:
4
$F - 12g \sin 30^\circ = 0$
5
Substitute $g = 9.8 ms^{- 2}$ and $sin 3 0^{\circ} = 0.5$ :
6
$F = 12 \times 9.8 \times 0.5 = 58.8 \text{ N}$

Exam tip:

Always check the direction of friction: it opposes the direction the particle would move if friction was removed. If the particle is pulled up the slope, friction acts down.

4. Triangle of Forces for Three Force Equilibrium★★★☆☆⏱ 8 min

If a particle is in equilibrium under exactly three forces, you can use the triangle of forces method instead of resolving, which is often faster for problems with right-angled forces.

📘 Definition

Triangle of Forces Rule

If three forces acting at a point are in equilibrium, they can be represented by the three sides of a closed triangle drawn tip-to-tail.

📐 Worked Example

A particle of weight 15 N is suspended from a fixed point by a light string, and held in equilibrium by a horizontal force of 8 N. Find the tension in the string.

1
Three forces act: 15 N down (weight), 8 N right (applied force), T up-left (tension). Drawn tip-to-tail they form a right-angled triangle.
2
Apply Pythagoras' theorem to the closed triangle:
3
$T^2 = 15^2 + 8^2 = 225 + 64 = 289$
4
Solve for T:
5
$T = \sqrt{289} = 17 \text{ N}$

5. Common Pitfalls

Wrong move:

Swapping weight components on an incline: using $m g cos θ$ parallel to the slope.

Why:

Mixing up components gives incorrect values for all forces in the problem, leading to zero marks for the whole question.

Correct move:

Use the mnemonic: sine goes with the slope, so parallel component = $m g sin θ$ , perpendicular = $m g cos θ$ .

Wrong move:

Forgetting to add weight to the force diagram when it is not explicitly mentioned.

Why:

Unless the question states the particle is light or massless, it has weight that must be included.

Correct move:

Always add weight $m g$ to your force diagram unless the particle is stated to be massless.

Wrong move:

Not assigning direction to forces when writing equilibrium equations.

Why:

Forces acting in opposite directions must be subtracted, not added, so you will get the wrong resultant.

Correct move:

Choose a positive direction for each axis, assign negative signs to forces acting in the opposite direction before summing to zero.

Wrong move:

Assuming friction always acts down an inclined plane.

Why:

Friction direction depends on the direction the particle would slip without friction, which can be up or down the slope.

Correct move:

Check what motion friction opposes: if the particle would slip down, friction acts up; if it would slip up, friction acts down.

6. Quick Reference Cheatsheet

Concept	Rule / Formula
General Equilibrium	$\sum F_{x} = 0, \sum F_{y} = 0$
Weight on Incline ( $θ$ )	Parallel: $m g sin θ$ , Perpendicular: $m g cos θ$
Three Force Equilibrium	Tip-to-tail closed force triangle
Normal Reaction (smooth incline)	$R = m g cos θ$
Friction Limit	$F \leq μ R$

When this came up on past exams

AI-estimated based on syllabus patterns — cross-check with official past papers for accuracy. Use only as revision-focus signals.

2022 · 12
Equilibrium on inclined plane
2023 · 13
Connected particles equilibrium
2024 · 11
Three force equilibrium problem

What's Next

Forces and equilibrium is the foundation of all further topics in CIE A-Level Mechanics. The force resolution skills and equilibrium rules you learned here are used in every subsequent mechanics topic, from accelerating motion to moments and energy systems. Mastery of this sub-topic is critical for solving almost all mechanics problems, as force diagrams are the starting point for every question. Once you are confident with static equilibrium, you can extend your knowledge to problems involving acceleration, where net force is non-zero, and more complex static problems involving moments.