Free Body Diagram Maker for Forces & Equilibrium

Two ways to make a free body diagram here

• Precise mode: type each force as label, magnitude, angle. The tool draws an exact, scaled arrow for every force, labels it, and computes the net force — accurate every time, with no dragging or aligning.
• AI illustration mode: describe the physical scenario in plain English and the tool generates a polished, textbook-style free body diagram illustration with standard physics styling.
• Use precise mode when correctness matters (homework, lab reports, exam practice); use AI mode when you want a richly illustrated figure for slides, handouts, or a study guide.

How to draw a free body diagram

• Choose your object and treat it as a single point or box — everything outside it is part of the environment.
• Identify every force acting on the object: weight (gravity), the normal force from any surface, friction, tension, applied pushes or pulls, and drag.
• Give each force a direction. In this generator, 0° points right (east) and angles increase counterclockwise, so straight up is 90°, left is 180°, and straight down is 270°.
• Enter the forces, read off the net force the tool calculates, and download a clean SVG to drop into your notes, report, or worksheet.

Common forces on a free body diagram

Weight (Fg = mg) always points straight down toward the Earth. The normal force (Fn) is perpendicular to the contact surface and pushes the object away from it. Friction (Ff) acts along the surface, opposing motion or the tendency to move. Tension (T) pulls along a rope or cable, away from the object. An applied force (Fa) is any direct push or pull, and drag or air resistance opposes the direction of motion through a fluid. A correct FBD includes only forces acting on the object itself — never forces the object exerts on something else, and never quantities like velocity or acceleration, which are not forces.

Equilibrium and Newton’s second law

Once the forces are drawn, a free body diagram becomes a calculation tool. If the object is in equilibrium (at rest or moving at constant velocity), the forces balance and the net force is zero: ΣFx = 0 and ΣFy = 0. If the net force is not zero, Newton’s second law gives the acceleration: ΣF = ma. The generator sums the horizontal and vertical components of your forces and reports the resultant, so you can immediately see whether your object is balanced or accelerating, and in which direction.

When to use the AI illustration mode

Reach for AI illustration mode when you want a styled, context-rich figure rather than a strict force layout — an inclined-plane scene, a pulley system, or a banked-curve illustration for a presentation or handout. For anything where the directions and magnitudes must be exactly right, such as a graded problem or a lab write-up, use the precise mode so the arrows are computed from your input and the net force is calculated for you.