Question

The net force of the body is zero that means the force are not being applied to the body at all and hence the body is in equilibrium.

(a) The first part of the statement is false and other part is true

(b) The first part of the statement is false and other part is false too

(c) The first part of the statement is true and other part is false

(d) The first part of the statement is true and other part is true too

I had been asked this question by my school teacher while I was bunking the class.

My question is taken from Conditions for a Rigid-Body Equilibrium topic in section Equilibrium of a Rigid Body of Engineering Mechanics

Answer 1

Right option is (c) The first part of the statement is true and other part is false

Easy explanation: The net force of the body is zero that doesn’t mean that the force are not being applied to the body at all and hence the body is in equilibrium. The equilibrium is only attained if the net force on the body tends to be equal to zero. Thus the forces cancels out. If this happens there is no motion of the body along any direction and hence the body is said to be in equilibrium.