FBy 500

3ft.
FBx C
B

5ft.

59.036°
FA
A
1. Determine the forces acting externally on the supports. Remember that, depending on the type of
support, the number of forces acting on it differs. For a roller support, same as Support A, only one
(1) force acts on it (on this case, a horizontal force) while a pin support, same as Support B, two (2)
forces, both on x and y axes, act on it.
2. Sum the moments on B so you can initially eliminate those two forces thereat. We assume that no
moments act on point/Support B. (Remember: Moment is force times distance). Summing moments
at B equals to:
ΣMB = 0 (counterclockwise positive). This means that all counterclockwise moving moments
on B will be denoted as positive moments, otherwise, negative moments.
0 = FA (5) – 500 (3)
500(3)
FA = = 300N
(5)
3. To solve for the internal forces AB, BC, and AC/CA, we need to sum forces on each point/joint. At
Joint A, the acting forces are FA, AB, and AC which is illustrated below.

AB AC
FA = 300N θ=59.036°

A
We first assume direction for AB and AC. AB is tension while AC is compression. Summing the forces
acting on A along the X-axis will give the equation below (forces going/pointing to the right are
positive forces). Assuming stability, the sum of forces along X-axis shall be equal to zero (0).
ΣFx = 0:
0 = FA – AC cosθ
AC cosθ = FA
FA 300
AC = = = 583.0910N, compression
cosθ cos 59.036

Since the equation gave us a positive result, this means that our initial assumption on the direction
of the forces is correct. AC is a compression member.

4. Knowing AC, we can now solve for the value of AB by summing all the forces acting on point A
along the Y-axis.
ΣFy = 0:
0 = AB – AC sinθ
AC sinθ = AB
 AC 583.0910
AB = = = 499.9952N, tension
sinθ sin 59.036
5. To finally solve for the force acting on BC, we sum the forces at point C.
036° C
θ=59.
A
C C
B

500N
Since BC is a horizontal force and we already have a value for AC, we can simply sum all the forces
along the x-axis to get the value of BC. Since the horizontal component of AC is a compression and
only BC acts to oppose it, we assume a tension force for BC, that is a force away from point C.
Assuming stability between forces, sum of forces along the x-axis must be equal to zero.

ΣFx = 0:
0 = -BC + AC cosθ
BC = AC cosθ
BC = 583.0910 cos (59.036)
BC = 300N, tension
Since we got a positive result, this confirms that our assumption on the nature of force (tension)
acting on BC is correct.

With this, the final answers are:

AC/CA = 583.0910N, compression

AB = 499.9952N, tension
BC = 300N, tension