This study provides a simplified solution for estimating the dynamic response of a single-walled carbon nanotube when excited by a moving nanoparticle. At first, the strong form of the equation of motion for a nonlocal Rayleigh nanotube is deduced, and the inertia effect of a moving nanoparticle along a nanobeam is then considered. For obtaining a weak form of the above nonlocal model, we use the Galerkin method, where the test functions are a set of orthogonal polynomials generated from a polynomial satisfying given boundary conditions. This process leads to a second-order differential equation which for a moving load the matrix coefficients are time dependent. In the state-space formulation, the forced response depends upon a transition matrix that can be locally approximated by the matrix exponential by assuming that the coefficients are locally constant. The normalized frequencies for a moving force are calculated and compared to those obtained in previous studies, and good agreement between them was observed. After acquiring the dynamic responses of a nanotube for a wide range of velocities and weights of moving nanoparticles, as well as for the nonlocal effects on a nanobeam, a nonlinear regression analysis is adapted to estimate the response of a nanobeam according to an analogous classical Rayleigh beam. These equivalent results in three multipliers (a, b, and c) are functions of kinetic parameters and nonlocal effects. Due to the normalization of the variables, these multipliers can be used for various types of beam-like structures in both the nanoand macro-domains. The accuracy of these coefficients is evaluated using the results gained by the analytical solution. This paper offers a remedy for a time-consuming process by means of some simple substitutions. Keywords Single-walled carbon nanotube Á Nonlocal Rayleigh beam theory Á Moving load Á Moving mass Á Conversion coefficient