Equilibrium

Stephanie Cohen1

  • 1General surgery resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

AMA Journal of Ethics
|August 4, 2020
PubMed

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Static Equilibrium - I01:05

Static Equilibrium - I

A rigid body is said to be in dynamic equilibrium when both its linear and angular acceleration are zero, relative to an inertial frame of reference. This means that a body in equilibrium can be moving, but only when its linear and angular velocities are constant. A rigid body is said to be in static equilibrium when it is at rest in the selected frame of reference. The distinction between static equilibrium (e.g., a state of rest) and dynamic equilibrium (e.g, a state of uniform motion) is...
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Equilibrium Conditions for a Particle01:23

Equilibrium Conditions for a Particle

When an object is in equilibrium, it is either at rest or moving with a constant velocity. There are two types of equilibrium: static and dynamic. Static equilibrium occurs when an object is at rest, while dynamic equilibrium occurs when an object is moving with a constant velocity. In both cases, there must be a balance of forces acting on the object.
To understand the concept of equilibrium, let us first consider the forces acting on an object. When different forces act on an object, they can...
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Oscillations about an Equilibrium Position01:04

Oscillations about an Equilibrium Position

Stability is an important concept in oscillation. If an equilibrium point is stable, a slight disturbance of an object that is initially at the stable equilibrium point will cause the object to oscillate around that point. For an unstable equilibrium point, if the object is disturbed slightly, it will not return to the equilibrium point. There are three conditions for equilibrium points—stable, unstable, and half-stable. A half-stable equilibrium point is also unstable, but is named so...
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Stability of Equilibrium Configuration01:23

Stability of Equilibrium Configuration

Understanding the stability of equilibrium configurations is a fundamental part of mechanical engineering. In any system, there are three distinct types of equilibrium: stable, neutral, and unstable.
A stable equilibrium occurs when a system tends to return to its original position when given a small displacement, and the potential energy is at its minimum. An example of a stable equilibrium is when a cantilever beam is fixed at one end and a weight is attached to the other end. If the weight...
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Categories of Equilibrium01:30

Categories of Equilibrium

Equilibrium is a crucial concept in physics, enabling us to understand how forces interact with bodies to produce no or constant motion. In two-dimensional equilibrium, force systems can be classified into different categories based on their characteristics.
One of the categories of equilibrium is collinear equilibrium, which involves forces acting along a straight line. This type of equilibrium requires only one force equation in the direction of the forces, as the other equations are...
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Conditions of Equilibrium01:28

Conditions of Equilibrium

Equilibrium refers to a state where a rigid body is not subjected to any translational or rotational motion. This state is achieved when the force and couple acting on a rigid body equal zero. When the system of external forces results in a net effect equivalent to zero, the rigid body is considered to be in equilibrium.
Internal forces are not considered for conditions of equilibrium because they occur in equal and opposite pairs within the body, effectively canceling each other. As a result,...
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