Engineering Mechanics

1. Introduction
Mechanics is a branch of the Physics that is concerned with the state of rest or motion of bodies that
are subjected to the action of forces.

Mechanics of Solids: Study of the behavior of the solids under forces.

Mechanics of Fluids (Liquid and gasses): Study of the behavior of the fluid under forces.
Kinematics: Kinematics is the branch of dynamics which describe the motion of bodies without
reference to the forces which causes the motion.
Kinetics: Kinetics is the study of the relations between unbalance forces and the resulting change in
motion

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 2. Basic terminologies in mechanics
The following are the terms basic to the study of mechanics, which should be understood clearly.

Mass
The quantity of the matter possessed by a body is called mass.

Time
The time is the measure of succession of events.

Space
The geometric region in which study of body is involved is called space. A point in the space
may be referred with respect to a predetermined point by a set of linear and angular
measurements. The reference point is called the origin and the set of measurements as
coordinates. If the coordinates involved are only in mutually perpendicular directions, they are
known as Cartesian coordination. If the coordinates involve angles as well as the distances, it
is termed as Polar Coordinate System.

Length
It is a concept to measure linear distances.

Continuum
The body is assumed to be a continuous distribution of matter. In other words the body is
treated as continuum.

Rigid Body
A body is said to be rigid, if the relative positions of any two particles do not change under the
action of the forces acting on it.

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Particle
A particle may be defined as an object which has only mass and no size. theoretically
speaking such a body cannot exist. However in dealing with problems involving distances
considerably larger compared to the size of the body, the body may be treated as a particle,
without sacrificing accuracy.
For example:
A bomber aero plane is a particle for a gunner operating from the ground.
A ship in mid sea is a particle in the study of its relative motion from a control tower.
In the study of movement of the earth in celestial sphere, earth is treated as a particle.

Force
Force is an important term used in solid mechanics. Newtons first law states that everybody
continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled by an
external agency acting on it. This leads to the definition of force as force is an external
agency which changes or tends to change the state of rest or uniform linear motion of the
body. Magnitude of force is defined by Newtons second law. It states that the rate of change
of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the impressed force and it takes place in the
direction of the force acting on it.

Noting that rate of change of velocity is acceleration, and the product of mass and velocity is
momentum we can derive expression for the force as given below: From Newtons second law
of motion

Force rate of change of momentum

rate of change of (mass velocity)

Since mass do not change,

Force mass rate of change of velocity
mass acceleration
Fma
F =k ma

where
F-is the force,
m-is the mass and
a-is the acceleration and
k-is the constant of proportionality

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 3. Statics
Statics is the branch of mechanics that is concerned with the analysis of loads (force and
torque, or "moment") acting on physical systems that do not experience an acceleration (a=0)

The statics is based on the following principles of mechanics:

1. Newtons laws of mechanics
2. Law of transmissibility
3. Parallelogram law of forces
4. Principles of physical independence
5. Principles of superposition

1. Newtons laws of mechanics

As already discussed in first chapter, Newtons first law gave definition of the force and
second law Gave basis for quantifying the force. There are two more Newtons laws:

a. Newtons Third Law

b. Newtons Law of Gravitation

(a) Newtons Third Law

It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

(b) Newtons Law of Gravitation

It states that everybody attracts the other body. The force of attraction between any two bodies
is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.

Where G is the constant of proportionality and is known as constant of gravitation. It has been
proved by experiments that the value of

G = 6.673 1011Nm2/kg2
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Example : if two bodies one of mass 10 kg and the other of 5 kg are at a distance of 1 m, they
exert a force

Similarly 1 kg-mass on earth surface experiences a force of

Since, mass of earth = 5.96504 1024kg and radius of earth = 6371 103m. This force of
attraction is always directed towards the centre of earth. In common usage the force exerted by
a earth on a body is known as weight of the body. Thus weight of 1 kg-mass on/near earth
surface is 9.80665 N, which is approximated as 9.81 N for all practical problems. Compared
to this force the force exerted by two bodies on each other is negligible.

Thus in statics:
a. Weight of a body = mg
b. Its direction is towards the centre of the earth, in other words, vertically downward.
c. The force of attraction between the other two objects on the earth is negligible.

2. Law of transmissibility

The point of application of a force on a rigid body can be changed along the same line of
action maintaining the same magnitude and direction without affecting the effect of the force
on the body.
Limitation of principle of transmissibility: Principle of transmissibility can be used only for
rigid bodies and cannot be used for deformable bodies.

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3. Parallelogram law of forces
The parallelogram law of vectors enables us to determine the single vector called resultant
vector which can replace the two vectors acting at a point with the same effect as that of
the two vectors. This law was formulated based on experimental results on a body
subjected to two forces

Two forcer (vectors) acting simultaneously on a body at a point are represented in

magnitude and directions by the two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, their resultant is
represented in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram which passes
thorough the point of intersection of the two sides representing the forces (vectors).

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Triangular law of forces

The Triangle Law of Forces (vectors) may be stated as if two forces (vectors) acting on a body
are represented one after another by the sides of a triangle, their resultant is represented by the
closing side of the triangle taken from the first point to the last point.

Referring to above Figure, it can be observed that the resultant AD may be obtained by
constructing the triangle ABD. Line AB is drawn to represent F1 and BD to represent F2. Then
AD should represent the resultant of F1 and F2. Thus we have derived the triangle law of
forces from the fundamental law of parallelogram.

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Polygon Law of Forces (Vectors)

If more than two forces (vectors) are acting on a body, two forces (vectors) at a line can be
combined by the triangle law, and finally resultant of all forces (vectors) acting on the body
may be obtained.

A system of four concurrent forces acting on a body is shown in Figure. AB represents F1 and
BC represents F2. Hence according to triangle law of forces AC represents the resultant of
F1and F2, say R1.

Resolution of forces
Resolution of forces Splitting the forces in to components

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In Figure (a), the given force F is resolved into two components making angles and with
F1 & F2. In Figure (b) the force F is resolved into its rectangular components FX and FY. In
Figure (c), the force F is resolved into its four components F1, F2, F3 and F4.

It may be noted that all component forces act at the same point as the given force. Resolution
of forces into its rectangular components is more useful in solving the problems in mechanics.
In this case, if the force F makes angle with x-axis, from Figure (b), it is clear that FX = F
cos and FY = F sin .

4. Principles of physical independence

Action of forces on bodies are independent, in other words the action of forces on a body is
not influenced by the action of any other force on the body.

5. Principles of superposition
The effect of a given system of forces on a rigid body is not changed by adding or subtracting
another system of forces in equilibrium.

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 4. Vector representation of a force

Scalars quantities
Quantities which are having only magnitude is called Scalar quantities
Ex: mass, Temperature, speed, etc

Vector quantities
Quantities which are having both magnitude and direction is called vector quantities
Ex: acceleration , velocity

Vector is generally represented by a letter with arrow written over it.

Ex:

A vector is represented graphically by an arrow, which is used to define its magnitude,
direction, and sense

Multiplication and division of vector by Scalar

The product of vector A and scalar a, yielding aA, is defined as a vector having a
magnitude||. The sense of aA is the same as A provided a is positive; it is opposite to A if a
is negative.

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Vector addition
Two vectors A and B such as force or position, Figure may be added to form a "resultant" vector R =
A + B by using the parallelogram law.

Finding a Resultant of coplanar force system

When the resultant of more than two forces has to be obtained, it is easier to find the
components of each force along specified axes, and add these components algebraically, and
then form the resultant,

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Cartesian vector representation of forces

Right-Handed Coordinate System. A right-handed coordinate system will be used for

developing the theory of vector algebra that follows.

A vector A may have one, two, or three rectangular components along the x, y, z coordinate
axes, depending on how the vector is oriented relative to the axes.

A is represented by the vector sum of its three rectangular components,

A = AX + AY + AZ

Unit vector
The direction of A can be specified using a unit vector. This vector is so named since it has a
magnitude of I.

So that

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Cartesian Unit Vectors.
In three dimensions, the set of Cartesian unit vectors, i, j, k, is used to designate the directions
of the x, y, z axes respectively.

Since the three components of A in Figure act in the positive i, j, and k directions. we can
write A in Cartesian vector form as

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Magnitude of a Cartesian Vector.

Direction of a Cartesian Vector.

We will define the direction the Vector A by the coordinate direction angles , & measured
between the tail of A and the positive x,y,z axes.

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An easy way of obtaining these direction cosines is to form a unit vector uA as follows

Where

uA can be represented by the direction cosines as follows

If the magnitude and coordinate direction angles of A are known, then A may be expressed in
Cartesian vector form as follows

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Position Vectors
A position vector r is defined as a fixed vector which locates a point in space relative to
another point. For example, if r extends from the origin of coordinates, O to point
P(x,y,z) as shown in Figure, then r can be expressed in Cartesian vector form as

r = xi + yj +z k

The position vector may be directed from point A to point B in space as shown in
figure; This vector is also designated by the symbol r. As a matter of convention, we
will sometimes refer to this vector with two subscripts to indicate from and to the
point where it is directed. Thus r can also be designate as rAB

Solving for r and expressing rA and rB in Cartesian vector form yields

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Force Vector Directed along a Line
In sometime static problems, the direction of a force is specified by two points through which
its line of action passes. Such a situation shown in figure, where the force F is directed along
the cord AB. we can formulate F as a Cartesian vector by realizing that it has the same
direction and sense as the position vector r directed from point A to point B on the cord. This
common direction specified by the unit vector
u=r/r

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Dot product
Occasionally in statics one has to find the angle between two lines or the components of a
force parallel and perpendicular to a line. In two dimensions, these problems can readily be
solved by trigonometry since the geometry is easy to visualize. In three dimensions, however,
this is often difficult, and consequently vector methods should be employed for the solution.
The dot product defines a particular method for "multiplying" two vectors and is used to solve
the above-mentioned problems The dot product of vectors A and B, written A. B, and read" A
dot B," is defined as the product of the magnitudes of A and B and the cosine of the angle e
between their tails, shown in Figure. Expressed in equation form.

Laws of Operation

1. Commutative law: A.B = B.A

2. Multiplication by a scalar: a(A.B) = (aA).B = A.(aB) = (A.B)a
3. Distributive law: A.(B + D) = (A. B) + (A.D)

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