Unit I Engineering Mechanics - Statics

2020
Unit I Engineering Mechanics - Statics
Contents
• Definitions
• Principle of transmissibility
• Components of a force
• Moment
• Couple
• Resultant
• Numerical
Mechanics is a branch of applied sciences that describes and predicts the state of rest or of uniform
motion of bodies under the action of forces. Engineering Mechanics deals with the application of
principles of mechanics and different laws in a systematic manner.
Particle: A particle is a body of infinitely small volume and the entire mass of the body is assumed to be
concentrated at a point. Rigid body: It is one, which does not alter its shape, or size or the distance
between any two points on the body does not change on the application of external forces.
Deformable body: It is one, which alters its shape, or size or the distance between any two points on the
body changes on the application of external forces.
In the above example, the body considered is rigid as long as the distance between the points A and B
remains the same before and after application of forces, or else it is considered as a deformable body.
Force: According to Newton‘s I law, force is defined as an action or agent, which changes or tends to
change the state of rest or of uniform motion of a body in a straight line. Units of force: The gravitational
(MKS) unit of force is the kilogram force and is denoted as ‗kgf‘. The absolute (SI) unit of force is the
Newton and is denoted as ‗N‘.
1 Department of Science & Humanities (Physics) PESU

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Characteristics of a force:
A force is a vector quantity. It has four important characteristics, which can be listed as follows.
1) Magnitude: It can be denoted as 10 kgf or 100 N.
2) Point of application: It indicates the point on the body on which the force acts.
3) Line of action: The arrowhead placed on the line representing the direction represents it.
4) Direction: It is represented by a co-ordinate or cardinal system.
The characteristics of the force acting on the body are 1) Magnitude is 10 N. 2) Point of application is A. 3)
Line of action is A to B or AB. 4) Direction is horizontally to right.
The characteristics of the force acting on the

body are
1) Magnitude is 10 N.
2) Point of application is O.
3) Line of action is O to F or OF.
4) Direction is , Force is making angle Ɵ with

positive X axis , is in First quadrant.
The characteristics of the force acting on the

body are
1) Magnitude is 4 kN.
2) Point of application is A
3) Line of action is A to B or AB.
4) Direction is , Force is making angle 40°

with positive X axis , is in fourth quadrant.
Newton’s Laws
Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line
unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This is normally taken as the
definition of inertia. The key point here is that if there is no net force acting on an object (if all the
external forces cancel each other out) then the object will maintain a constant velocity. If that

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velocity is zero, then the object remains at rest. If an external force is applied, the velocity will
change because of the force.
The second law explains how the velocity of an object changes when it is subjected to an external
force. The law defines a force to be equal to change in momentum (mass times velocity) per change
in time. Newton also developed the calculus of mathematics, and the "changes" expressed in the
second law are most accurately defined in differential forms. (Calculus can also be used to determine
the velocity and location variations experienced by an object subjected to an external force.) For an
object with a constant mass m, the second law states that the force F is the product of an object's
mass and its acceleration a:
F=m*a
For an external applied force, the change in velocity depends on the mass of the object. A force will
cause a change in velocity; and likewise, a change in velocity will generate a force. The equation
works both ways.
The third law states that for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. In
other words, if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B also exerts an equal force on object
A. Notice that the forces are exerted on different objects. The third law can be used to explain the
generation of lift by a wing and the production of thrust by a jet engine.
Accuracy, Limits and Approximations

A measurement system is considered valid if it is both accurate and precise.
Accuracy is how close a measured value is to the actual (true) value.
Precision is how close the measured values are to each other.
The approximation used depends on the available information, the degree of accuracy required, the
sensitivity of the problem to the data, and the savings (usually in time and effort) that can be achieved
by approximation.
Problem Solving in Statics

Idealization or assumptions in Mechanics: In applying the principles of mechanics to practical
problems, a number of ideal conditions are assumed. They are as follows.
1) A body consists of continuous distribution of matter.

2) The body considered is perfectly rigid.
3) A particle has mass but not size.
4) A force acts through a very small point.
Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative magnitude and direction of all forces acting
upon an object in a given situation. These diagrams will be used throughout our study of mechanics.

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The size of the arrow in a free-body diagram reflects the magnitude of the force. The direction of the
arrow shows the direction that the force is acting. Each force arrow in the diagram is labeled to indicate
the exact type of force. It is generally customary in a free-body diagram to represent the object by a
box and to draw the force arrow from the center of the box outward in the direction that the force is
acting.
Free body diagrams consist of:
• A simplified version of the body (often a dot or a box)

• Forces shown as straight arrows pointing in the direction they act on the body
• Moments shown as curved arrows pointing in the direction they act on the body
• A coordinate system
Free body diagrams may not represent an entire physical body.
Isolate the body from all other bodies so that a complete and accurate account of all forces acting on
the body can be considered.
The external forces acting on the object include friction, gravity, normal force, drag, tension, or
a human force due to pushing or pulling.
Principle or Law of transmissibility of forces
It states ―The state of rest or of Uniform motion of a rigid body is unaltered if the point of application
of the force is Transmitted to any other point along the line of action of the force.”
The effect of the force F on the body remains the same when the force is transmitted through any
other point on the line of action of the force. This law has a limitation that it is Applicable to rigid
bodies only.
Free body diagrams consist of:
• A simplified version of the body (often a dot or a box)
• Forces shown as straight arrows pointing in the direction they act on the body.

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• Moments shown as curved arrows pointing in the direction they act on the body.
• A coordinate system.
Force Systems:
Coplanar force , Non coplanar force
Collinear force , Non collinear force
Parallel force , Like Parallel , Unlike Parallel
Concurrent , Non concurrent and
General Force System

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Rectangular Components & Resolution
Slitting up of force into respective Components along x and y direction is called as Resolution.
Components of the force are called as Rectangular components.
Here F is the single force.
Fx and Fy are rectangular components of F in x and y direction respectively.
I and j are unit vectors in x and y direction respectively.

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Numerical : 2/1
The force F has a magnitude of 800N. Express F as a vector in terms of the unit vectors I and j.
Identify the x and y scalar components of F

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Solution:
Solution:

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Solution:

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Moment is the rotational effect induced on a body due to the applied force.
Moment is also called as Torque.
Mathematically Moment is defined as the product of the magnitude of the force and
perpendicular distance of the point from the line of action of the force from the point.
Example:
Force ‘F’ is applied perpendicular to the handle of the wrench to rotate
The pipe about its vertical axis.

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Couple

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Solution:
Resultant

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2020