Using sketches to solve moment arms

Moments can have their finicky moments, don't you think?  If you have some applied moment being applied somewhere on a lever arm, and you need to find out the force being applied at the end of the arm then you're in luck!

You can use sketches to find out the force acting on the end of a lever arm easily.

1.  Draw a line for your lever arm.  Give it a length.

2.  Draw your applied load on your lever arm.

3.  Put the angle and applied load (1 lb = 1in, 10lb = 1in, 100lb = 1in, etc...).

4. Draw a construction line perpendicular to your moment arm.

5. Draw a construction line perpendicular to your construction line.

6.  The first construction line is your normal applied load.

7. Draw a line for your acting load on the end of your lever arm and make it perpendicular to it.

8. Add a dimension for the line and type "=".  Click on the dimension of your normal applied load. Type "*".  Click on the dimension between the normal applied and the center of your lever arm.  Type "/".  Click on the dimension of your lever arm length.  Click Enter.

9.  The equation you just entered is: "Normal applied force x [(distance from center)/(length of moment arm)].

You can use this in many creative ways; however, your screen might get a bit busy and you'll have to hide a bunch of sketches.