Question #c16a5

2 Answers
Nov 21, 2016

given
To find out the minimum value of l" ie "l_"min"l ie lmin so that the woman can walk towards the other end W of the beam without tipping,we can say, when the woman reaches at the other end the moment of the weight of the beam (Mg) at G, the mid point of the beam and the moment of the weight of the woman (mg) at W about 2nd pivot at O are equal for l=l_"min"l=lmin

Hence we can write

OWxxmg=OGxxMgOW×mg=OG×Mg

=>(PW-PO)xxmg=(PO-PG)xxMg(PWPO)×mg=(POPG)×Mg

=>(L-l_"min")mg=(l_min-L/2)Mg

=>(L-l_"min")/(l_"min"-L/2)=M/m

=>(L-l_"min")/(l_"min"-L/2)+1=M/m+1

=>(L/2)/(l_"min"-L/2)=(M+m)/m

=>(L/2)=(l_"min"-L/2)xx(M+m)/m

=>(l_"min"-L/2)=L/2xxm/(M+m)

=>l_"min"=L/2xxm/(M+m)+L/2

=>l_"min"=L/2(m/(M+m)+1)

=>l_"min"=((2m+M)/(2M+2m))*L

Nov 25, 2016

l_(min)=1/2((M+2m)/(M+m))L

Explanation:

The equilibrium limit is attained when the reaction support at the left most pivot is null. So Calling N_2 the second pivot reaction we have:

N_2-M g - m g = 0

The moment regarding the left most pivot is

N_2 l_(min)-M g L/2 - m g L = 0

solving for N_2,l_(min) we obtain

N_2 = (M+m) g and
l_(min)=1/2((M+2m)/(M+m))L