What term describes the external force acting on a structure?

What term describes the external force acting on a structure?

• A. Strain
• B. Torque
• C. Load
• D. Stress

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is distinguishing the external influence that acts on a structure from what happens inside it once that influence is applied. The external force acting on a structure is called a load. It includes gravity, contact forces, wind, impact, and any other force applied to the structure from outside. Loads can be static (constant) or dynamic (varying with time) and can be distributed or concentrated.

Strain refers to the deformation that occurs in response to the load, not the external force itself. Stress is the internal resistance per unit area within the material caused by the applied load. Torque describes a turning effect or moment produced by a force about an axis; while a force can create torque, torque is a specific type of effect, not the general term for the external force itself.

So, the term that best describes the external force acting on a structure is load.