- We call this an FBD, free body diagram, which you’d better remember, since it just happens to be the same as my initials!
FBD
noun; acronym
[Acronym] A free body diagram This is a unique abbreviation invented by Prof. Dunning to refer to free body diagrams; it is novel in that it was coined because it just happens to be exactly the same as his initials, F.B.D. By using this colorful relation, he is trying to get the process of drawing an FBD to stick in the minds of the students.
Etymology : Formed from F in free, B in body and D in diagram
Source : Dr. F. Barry Dunning, head of the Rice Physics department
Last modified: 10 June 2008