| As with forces, individual torques can add to
give the net torque.
In this question, we have three separate forces. All three forces act at a distance from the pivot point, O. This gives rise to three individual torques, each one caused by a separate force. Note that we have forces acting in different directions, and so may cause different directions of torque. Let's take the forces causing a counter-clockwise motion of the object to have positive torque. Clockwise motions will be taken to have negative torques. Letting ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 1, 2,
and 3,
we get the total, or net torque.
![]() |
Figure 1 Diagram from Question 3 |