WHAT IS A FREE BODY DIAGRAM-BIOMECHANICS NOTES
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A Free Body Diagram is a pictorial representation often used by physicists and engineers to analyze the forces acting on a free body. A free body diagram shows all contact and non-contact forces acting on the body. Drawing such a diagram can aid in solving for the unknown forces or the equations of motion of the body. Creating a free body diagram can make it easier to understand the forces, and moments, in relation to one another and suggest the proper concepts to apply in order to find the solution to a problem. The diagrams are also used as a conceptual device to help identify the internal forces, (for example shear forces and bending moments in beams), which are developed within structures