Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-1/section-b/b7/c/solution

By vertical force balance and reflection symmetry, each support exerts an upward force . Use the paper's convention in which the sagging bending moment is negative. For a cut at , the left support's moment about that cut gives
For , include the central downward force when taking moments of all loads to the left:
Thus
The bending moment is continuous at the load, with , and vanishes at both freely rotating supports. The jump is in its first derivative, reflecting the concentrated transverse force.

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