Authors: Russell C. Hibbeler
ISBN-13: 978-0133915426
See our solution for Question 29FP from Chapter 2 from Hibbeler's Engineering Mechanics.
We are given the force and distance as shown in figure.
We are asked to find the magnitude of the projected component of the force along the pipe AO.

Write the position vector of point A.
\[{\vec r_A} = \left( {0\hat i + 4\hat j + 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\]Write the position vector of point B.
\[{\vec r_B} = \left( {4\hat i + 5\hat j + 0\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\]Write the position vector of the line AB$\left( {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right)$.
\[{\vec r_{AB}} = {\vec r_B} - {\vec r_A}\]To find the position vector of the line AB$\left( {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right)$, substitute the position vectors of point A and B in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} {{\vec r}_{AB}} = \left( {4\hat i + 5\hat j + 0\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}} - \left( {0\hat i + 4\hat j + 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\\ {{\vec r}_{AB}} = \left( {4\hat i - 0\hat i} \right)\;{\rm{m}} + \left( {5\hat j - 4\hat j} \right)\;{\rm{m}} + \left( {0\hat k - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\\ {{\vec r}_{AB}} = \left( {4\hat i + \hat j - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}} \end{array}\]To find the magnitude of the vector along line AB$\left( {\left| {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right|} \right)$, we need to solve the above equation as follows:
\[\begin{array}{c} \left| {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right| = \sqrt {{{\left( 4 \right)}^2} + {{\left( 1 \right)}^2} + {{\left( { - 6} \right)}^2}} \\ \left| {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right| = \sqrt {53} \\ \left| {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right| = 7.28\;{\rm{m}} \end{array}\]The unit vector along the line AB can be given as follows:
\[{\vec a_{AB}} = \frac{{{{\vec r}_{AB}}}}{{\left| {{{\vec r}_{AB}}} \right|}}\]To find the unit vector along the line AB, substitute the values in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} {{\vec a}_{AB}} = \frac{{\left( {4\hat i + \hat j - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}}}{{7.28\;{\rm{m}}}}\\ {{\vec a}_{AB}} = 0.549\hat i + 0.137\hat j - 0.824\hat k \end{array}\]The force vector $\left( {\vec F} \right)$ can be given as follows:
\[\vec F = F \cdot {\vec a_{AB}}\]Here, F is the magnitude of force.
To find the force vector $\left( {\vec F} \right)$, substitute the values in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} \vec F = \left( {400\;{\rm{N}}} \right) \cdot \left( {0.549\hat i + 0.137\hat j - 0.824\hat k} \right)\\ \vec F = \left( {219.6\hat i + 54.8\hat j - 329.6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{N}} \end{array}\]Write the position vector of point O.
\[{\vec r_O} = \left( {0\hat i + 0\hat j + 0\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\]Write the position vector along the pipe AO$\left( {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right)$.
\[{\vec r_{AO}} = {\vec r_O} - {\vec r_A}\] Step 7To find the position vector of pipe AO$\left( {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right)$, substitute the position of vector of point O and A in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} {{\vec r}_{AO}} = \left( {0\hat i + 0\hat j + 0\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}} - \left( {0\hat i + 4\hat j + 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\\ {{\vec r}_{AO}} = \left( {0\hat i - 0\hat i} \right)\;{\rm{m}} + \left( {0\hat j - 4\hat j} \right)\;{\rm{m}} + \left( {0\hat k - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}\\ {{\vec r}_{AO}} = \left( {0\hat i - 4\hat j - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}} \end{array}\]To find the magnitude of the vector along pipe AO$\left( {\left| {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right|} \right)$, we need to solve the above equation as follows:
\[\begin{array}{c} \left| {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right| = \sqrt {{{\left( 0 \right)}^2} + {{\left( { - 4} \right)}^2} + {{\left( { - 6} \right)}^2}} \\ \left| {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right| = \sqrt {52} \\ \left| {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right| = 7.21\;{\rm{m}} \end{array}\]The unit vector along the pipe AO can be given as follows:
\[{\vec a_{AO}} = \frac{{{{\vec r}_{AO}}}}{{\left| {{{\vec r}_{AO}}} \right|}}\]To find the unit vector along the pipe AO, substitute the values in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} {{\vec a}_{AO}} = \frac{{\left( {0\hat i - 4\hat j - 6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{m}}}}{{7.21\;{\rm{m}}}}\\ {{\vec a}_{AO}} = 0\hat i - 0.555\hat j - 0.832\hat k \end{array}\]The magnitude of the force along the pipe AO can be given as follows:
\[{F_{AO}} = \vec F \cdot {\vec a_{AO}}\]Here, $\vec F$is the force vector.
To find the magnitude of the force, substitute the values in the above expression, we get:
\[\begin{array}{c} {F_{AO}} = \left( {219.6\hat i + 54.8\hat j - 329.6\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{N}} \cdot \left( {0\hat i - 0.555\hat j - 0.832\hat k} \right)\\ {F_{AO}} = \left( {219.6\hat i \times 0\hat i} \right)\;{\rm{N}} + \left( {54.8\hat j \times \left( { - 0.555\hat j} \right)} \right)\;{\rm{N}} + \left( { - 329.6\hat k \times - 0.832\hat k} \right)\;{\rm{N}}\\ {F_{AO}} = 0\;{\rm{N}} - 30.414\;{\rm{N}} + 274.22\;{\rm{N}}\\ {F_{AO}} = 243.863\;\;{\rm{N}} \approx 244\;{\rm{N}}\\ {F_{AO}} = 244\;{\rm{N}} \end{array}\]