10.3 Force,Torque, and Load Cells
10.3.1 Basic definitions of force and torque
Many applications in industry require the measurement of force or load. Force
is a vector and acts in a straight line, it can be through the center of a mass, or
be offset from the center of the mass to produce a torque, or with two forces a
couple. Force can be measured with devices such as strain gages. In other applications
where a load or weight is required to be measured the sensor can be a
load cell.
Mass is a measure of the quantity of material in a given volume of an object.
Force is a term that relates the mass of an object to its acceleration and acts
through its center of mass, such as the force required to accelerate a mass at a
given rate. Forces are defined by magnitude and direction and are given by the
following:
Force (F ) = mass (m) × acceleration (a)