ABSTRACT
In reality most forces are distributed over an area rather than applied at a single point. The assumption of point loading is usually valid in those cases where the area over which the force is applied is small in comparison with the size of the body. If this is not the case, then the distribution of the forces must be accounted for. In practice, distributed forces or distributed loads will arise because of wind pressures on structures, hydrostatic pressures on submerged objects, or snow accumulation on buildings or simply because of the distribution of mass throughout an object or structural member. Since gravity applies a force to each individual particle in a body, the weight of the body should be represented by many small forces distributed throughout the entire body. These forces, however, can always be reduced to a single force acting through a point within the body called its center of gravity.
