A simply supported wood beam AB with span length L= 4 m carries a uniform load of intensity q = 5.8 kN/m (see figure).
(a) Calculate the maximum bending stress σmax due to the load q if the beam has a rectangular cross section with width b = 140 mm and height h = 240 mm.
(b) Repeat (a) but use the trapezoidal distributed load shown in the figure part (b).
