Introduction:
In 1981 at a Kansas City Hyatt, a walkway holding hundreds of people collapsed during a party. The collapse killed 114 people and injured 200 others. When building this walkway, designers and engineers made serious errors that allowed the collapse to occur under the weight of so many people. In such a design, every part must be analyzed to ensure that it can perform its intended function without failing. One planning tool that engineers can use is the free body diagram. Free body diagrams show all forces that act upon a body or part. The information identified in a free body diagram can be used to determine whether a part is adequate.