Static Forces
Biophysics
Lecture 1
Prepared by
Dr. TahaMohamed Ali
Lecture , Basic Science dep.
[email protected]
Course Name: Biophysics
Instructor: Dr. Taha Mohamed Ali
Book: Physics in Biology and Medicine, Fourth edition, Paul Davidovits,
Academic press – Elsevier, 2013.
Distribution of Grades: Attendance 5, Two Quizzes 20, Mid-term
Examination 25, Final written Examination 50, Total 100.
Studying Material: Notes taken in class + the book.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Taha Mohamed Ali ,
[email protected] Chapter 1
Static Forces
In this chapter, we will study:
1)Static forces which act on the human body.
2)Stability and equilibrium of human body.
3)Calculation of the forces exerted by the skeletal muscles on various
parts of human body.
We study the effect of forces on the motion of bodies and understand
the principles governing the movement of animals.
The study of human motion is part of the disciplines of Kinesiology which
studies human motion as applied to athletic activities and biomechanics.
Biomechanics is concerned with the physical behavior of bones and organs
such as the lungs and heart. The development of prosthetic devices such as
artificial limbs and mechanical hearts is an active area of biomechanical
research.
Biomechanics
Biomechanics - study of the mechanics as it relates to the
functional and anatomical analysis of biological systems
and especially humans
Necessary to study the body’s mechanical characteristics &
principles to understand its movements
Mechanics - study of physical actions of forces
Mechanics is divided into:
Statics
Dynamics
5
Biomechanics
Statics - study of systems that are in a constant state of
motion, whether at rest with no motion or moving at a
constant velocity without acceleration
Statics involves all forces acting on the body being in balance
resulting in the body being in equilibrium
Dynamics - study of systems in motion with acceleration
A system in acceleration is unbalanced due to unequal forces
acting on the body
6
Statics and Dynamics
Biomechanics includes statics & dynamics.
Statics: all forces acting on a body are balanced
F = 0 - The body is in equilibrium.
Dynamics: deals with unbalanced forces
F 0 - Causes object to change speed or
direction.
Excess force in one direction.
A turning force.
Principles of work, energy, & acceleration are
included in the study of dynamics.
10-7
Equilibrium and Stability
The first kind of force to study is the Gravitational force.
Earth attracts each part of the mass of an object. The sum of these forces is the weight
of the body.
The centre of gravity (c.g.) of a system is the point at which the net gravitational force
acts on the system.
A body is in static equilibrium if the sum of all forces on the body is zero. How? What is
the reaction force?
Stable Stable Unstable
Which is more stable and why? Two parameters base size and distance between
centre of gravity and base. Centre of gravity must be over the base.
EQUILIBRIUM
An object or person is in a state of equilibrium
when their motion is not changing
Dynamic equilibrium is used
to describe an object or person
travelling at a constant speed,
in the same direction
Conditions for Equilibrium
• The net force equals zero
F 0
• The net torque equals zero
0
Equilibrium Considerations for the Human Body
The center of gravity (c.g.) of a standing person with arms at the side is
at approximately 56% of the person’s height.
The center of gravity shifts as the person moves and bends.
What happens when carrying a load?
The body tends to bend to compensate the balance. The person extends
his hand to extending the limbs so as to shift the center of gravity back
over the feet.
when a person carries a weight in one arm, the other arm swings away
from the body and the torso bends away from the load
Center of Gravity (C of G)
● The “balance point” of the
body.
● The point where the weight of
the body acts.
● The point where all forces
acting on the body equal zero:
Linear forces must be balanced.
Torques must be balanced.
Placement of the Center of Gravity in Humans
The location of the C of G of a human in standing
position varies with body build, age, and sex.
Female’s CG is ~ 55% of standing height
Male’s CG is ~ 57% of standing height
In quiet standing, the C of G can be considered almost
directly over center of pressure.
Center of pressure - point at which the force vector for
ground reaction force is applied.
14-13
Stability of the Human Body under the action of an external force
The applied force Fa tends to topple the body. The
person topples when pivoting around point A. The
torque is counterclockwise/clockwise?
Ta Fa 1.5
The opposite restoring torque Tw due to person’s
weight is:
Tw W 0.1
The mass m of the person is 70kg, so:
W m g 70 9.8 686N Tw 68.6N .m
The person is on the verge of toppling when the
magnitudes of these two torques are just equal.
Ta Tw
68.6
Fa 45.7N
1.5
Let us calculate the magnitude of the force applied to Fa 1.5 68.6
the shoulder that will topple a person standing at
rigid attention???
Is there a way to return to stability of human body
Fa
More Stable than first case
W Fa
da
1.2
W
da
1.2
A dw 0.2
The person is on the verge of toppling when the
magnitudes of these two torques are just equal.
Ta Tw A
dw 0.45
Fa da Fw dw
Fw dw
Fa
da
STABILITY
STABILITY is important in many activities, it affects the
control of your movements. If you are off-balance when
making a hockey tackle you can stumble and fall
Stability depends on:
•The height of the centre of gravity The point of the
Centre of Gravity
X
•The base of support
•The line of the centre of gravity The line of the
falls inside the base of support Centre of Gravity
The Base of Support
Skeletal Muscles
The skeletal muscles, producing skeletal
movements, narrow at both ends into tendons.
The tendons grow into bone and attach muscle to
bone.
Each two bones attached by muscles are free
to move with respect to each other at the
joints where the bones contact each other.
Muscles function is to pull and not to push.
Maximum force muscle is capable of exerting is
proportional to its cross sectional area.
Each end of muscle is attached to a different To compute forces exerted by muscles, all joints
bone. Examples of these muscles are biceps & in the body can be conveniently analyzed in
triceps. terms of levers.
Introduction to Levers
Lever: Simple machine that operates according to
principle of torques
Torque: The turning effect of a force
T = Fd
Function of Levers
Two functions:
1. Force
2. Speed/ROM
19
Classification of Levers
Lever classification based on the
relative location of:
1. Axis of rotation/fulcrum (A)
2. Resistance force (R)
3. Applied force (F)
ARF
20
First Class Lever
Center: (A) – Axis of rotation/fulcrum
Mechanical advantage
Mechanical disadvantage
Examples
Crow bar
Seesaw
21
22
Advantage or disadvantage?
Second Class Lever
Center: (R) – Resistance force
Mechanical advantage
Always
Mechanical disadvantage
Never
Examples
Wheelbarrow
Nutcracker
23
24
Third Class Lever
Center: (F) – Applied force
Mechanical advantage
Never
Mechanical disadvantage
Always
Examples
Rowing
Shoveling
Bat, tennis racket
25
Baseball, tennis?
26
What are the general cases of the problems which we will face??
The Fulcrum is the pivot point.
The whole system has to be in
equilibrium and is on the verge of
moving about the Fulcrum.
Then: M is always greater than 1. M is always less than 1.
TForce TLoad Example: limb
Example: wheel bar
F d2 W d1 movement.
The mechanical advantage M:
W d2
M
F d1
Depending on ratio of distances, M
is greater or less than 1.
Example: seesaw
How about the systems which are moving??
L1 d1
L2 d 2
v1 d1
v2 d 2
Vertical distance moved by load and velocity of load d
are inversely proportional to M. WHY?? M 2
d1
Same relations apply to all other classes
Human Application
First class lever
Elbow extension against a resistance
Mechanical advantage or disadvantage
(R) – Resistance force
(F) – Applied force
(A) – Axis of rotation/fulcrum
29
Second class lever
Ankle plantar flexion
Mechanical advantage or disadvantage?
30
Not many in the body
Third class lever
Elbow flexion
Mechanical advantage or disadvantage?
Many of these in body
31
For the Equilibrium of an object:
1. The net external force on the object must equal zero.
Fx 0 Fy 0
2. The net external torque on the object about pivoting
point must be zero.
0
How can we calculate Fx, Fy and F???
y
Ax Acos
A, Ax , A y
Ay Asin
Ay A
x
Ax
Ax, Ay A, A A2 A2
x y
Some Trigonometry which you may need:
The following relationships apply to any triangle as shown:
Law of angles:
180
a Law of cosines:
b
a2 b2 c2 2bc cos
b2 a2 c2 2ac cos
c c2 a2 b2 2ab cos
Law of sines:
a b c
sin sin sin
Trigonometric identity:
sin2 cos2 1
Example: The elbow problem.
The two most important muscles producing elbow movement are the biceps and triceps.
The contraction of triceps causes an extension of the arm while contraction of the biceps closes
the elbow.
There are many other muscles for elbow movement but we will only consider the action of
these two muscles.
Problem:
A person holding a weight W in one hand with the elbow bent at a 100 degrees angle.
Dimensions are shown on drawing. The weight pulls the arm downward. The muscle force acting
on the lower arm must be in the up direction. The position of upper arm is fixed at the shoulder.
Under the equilibrium conditions, calculate the pulling form Fm exerted by the muscles and the
direction and magnitude of the reaction force Fr at the fulcrum (joint)?
Solution:
The prime active muscle is the biceps.
The problem can be classified as a class 3
lever.
The direction of the reaction force Fr is a guess.
We have three unknowns which are Fm, Fr and
direction of Fr.
The direction of Fm can be calculated using
trigonometric considerations:
a
b
c
Law of cosines: a2 b2 c2 2bc cos
a b c
Law of sines:
sin α sin β sin γ
72.6
The x component of the forces: Fm cos Fr cos
The y component of the forces:
Fm sin W Fr sin
At equilibrium, the torque about the fulcrum point
must be zero: 4 Fm sin 40 W
10W
Fm 10.5W
0.954
With a 14Kg weight in the hand
Fm 10.514 9.8 1440
1440 sin72.6 14 9.8 Fr sin
Fr sin 1240
Fr cos 430
tan 2.884
70.9
Fr 1320
