Question

A steel beam that is 5.50 m long weighs 332 N. It rests on two supports, 3.00 m apart, with equal amounts of the beam extending from each end. Suki, who weighs 505 N, stands on the beam in the center and then walks toward one end. How close to the end can she come before the beam begins to tip?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The given data is as follows.

    Length of beam, (L) = 5.50 m

    Weight of the beam, ($W_{b}$) = 332 N

     Weight of the Suki, ($W_{s}$) = 505 N

After crossing the left support of the beam by the suki then at some overhang distance the beam starts o tip. And, this is the maximum distance we need to calculate. Therefore, at the left support we will set up the moment and equate it to zero.

                 $\sum M_{o} = 0$

     $-W_{s} \times x + W_{b} \times 1.5$ = 0

                x = $\frac{W_{b} \times 1.5}{W_{s}}$

                   = $\frac{332 N \times 1.5}{505 N}$

                   = 0.986 m

Hence, the suki can come (2 - 0.986) m = 1.014 from the end before the beam begins to tip.

Thus, we can conclude that suki can come 1.014 m close to the end before the beam begins to tip.