Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

University Town, Northern Samar
Web: http://uep.edu.ph;
Email: uepnsofficial@gmail.com
OVERVIEW
Again, what is Mechanics? Mechanics is a
branch of physical science which deals with the

Module 2 state of rest or motion of bodies that subjected to

the action of forces. In general, this subject can be
subdivided into three branches:
mechanics, deformable-body mechanics, and
rigid-body

fluid mechanics. Rigid- body mechanics, which is

STATICS the focus of this course, can be divided into two
branches: statics and d ynamics.
T his course, Statics, is the branch of
mechanics that deals with the st udy of forces acting
on a body in equilibrium - either the body at rest or
in uniform motion.
In this module, we will have a review on the
pre-requisite concepts – basic quantities, models,
Newton’s Laws of Motion and gravitational
attraction, weight, SI units and vector operations ,
Part 2 and an introduction on force vectors and its
operations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you should be able
to:
1. state newton’s laws of motion
2. calculate the weight of an object ;
Engr. BLESS G. AMPUAN 3. perform calculations using SI and U.S. units ,
(+63)-9063763572 and;
engr.bless.g.ampuan 4. perform operations on force vectors .

LESSON 1: 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 consequent ly vector methods
should be employed for the solution. T he dot
product, which defines a particular method for
"multiplying" two vectors, will be is used to solve the
above-mentioned problems.
T ire 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 0 between their tails. Fig. 2 -41. Expressed in
equation form.
 A • B = AB cos 0

where 0° s tt s 180”. T he dot product is often

referred to as t he scalar product of vectors since
the result is a scalar and not a vector.

Laws of Operation.

1. Commutative law: A • B = B • A
2. Multiplication by a scalar: <i(A • B) = («A) • B
= A • («B)
3. Distributive law: A ■ (B + D) = (A • B) + (A ■
D)
It is easy to prove the first and second laws by using
Eq. 2-12. T he proof of the distributive law is left as
an exercise (see Prob. 2 -111).
Cartesian Vector Formulation. Equation 2 -12 must
be used to find the dot product for a ny two Cartesian
unit vectors. For example, ii = (l)(l)cos0° = 1 and i -
j = (l)(l)cos90' = 0. If we want to find the dot product
of two general vectors A and B that are expressed
in Cartesian vector form, then we have
AB = (A,i + Ayj + A -k) ■ (B,i + Byj + B . k)
= A,B,(i-i) + A,By(i j) + A,B.(i-k)
+ A,.B,(j-i) + (AyBy(} • j) + AyB.fj ‘ k)
+ A.B.fk -i) + A;Bv(k • j) + A:B -(k ■ k)
Carrying out the dot -product operations, the final
result becomes
(2-13)
T hus, to determine the dot product of two Cartesian
vectors, multiply tlieir corresponding x, y. z
components and sum these products algebraically.
Note that the result will be either a positive or
negative scalar.
Applications. T he dot product has two im portant
applications in mechanics.
• T he angle formed between two vectors or
intersecting lines. T he angle t) between the tails of
vectors A and B in Fig. 2 - 41 can be determined from
Eq.2-12 and written as
0 = co*"(^|) 0° £ 0 s 180'
Here A • B is found fro m Eq. 2-13. In particular,
notice that if A • B = 0.0 = cos -1 0 = 90° so that A
will be perpendicular to B.
• T he components of a vector parallel and
perpendicular to a line. T he component of vector A
parallel to or collinear with the line tuT in Fig. 2 -43
is denned by A„ where /! „ = A cos It. T his component
is sometimes referred to as the projection of A onto
the line, since a right angle is formed in the
construction. If the direction of t he line is specified
by the unit vector u„. then since u0 = I. we c an
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 determine the magnitude of A„ directly from the dot
product (Eq. 2-12): i.e..
Aa = A cos I) = A • u„
Hence, the scalar projection of A along a line is
determined front the dot product of A and the unit
vector u„ which defines the direction of the line.
Notice that if this result is positive, then A„ has a
directional sense which is the same as u„, whereas
if A„ is a negative scalar, then A„ has the opposite
sense of direction to it,,
T he component A„ represented as a vector is
therefore
A„ = A„ u„
T he component of A that is perpendicular to line aa
can also be obtained. Fig. 2 - 43. Since A = A„ + A_.
then A , = A - A„. T here are two possible ways of
obtaining A . One way would be to determine 0 from
the dot product. 0 = cos~'(A • u^/A), then A = A sin
t). Alternatively, if Aa is known, then by
Pythagorean's theorem we can also write A L = V/l2
— Aa~.

LEARNING EXERCISE No. 1

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 FEEDBACK

Congratulations my dear students. This is just an

introductory part of Statics but with your hard work and
perseverance in these topics pushed you to answer
independently the said learning exercises, arrived with
correct answers and learned from your mistakes. Believe on
your own capability. Do not hesitate to ask for other’s help.
Be humble and be resourceful. Lastly, to easily absorb this
topic, just solve related problems as many as you can.
Believe me or not. We already experience this difficulty in this
subject but look if where are we now? We already grasp the
fruit of our hardships.
How was the module? Can you follow the solution
procedure in the illustrative problems? I hope you will find
everything useful and in order.
May the Lord will bless you always!

SUGGESTED READINGS

https://mathalino.com/reviewer/engineering -
mechanics/principles -statics

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vect
ors/Lesson- 1/Vector-Resolution

REFERENCES

Hibbeler, R.C., Engineering Mechanics,

Statics, Amazon, 14th Edition
Kraige, L. G. and Meriam, I. L. , Engineering
Mechanics: ST AT ICS, 5 t h Edition, John W iley &
Sons, Inc., 2002

KEY ANSWERS TO LEARNING EXERCISES

LE AR NI NG E X E R CIS E N o. 1
I – F 2 = 5 . 1 3 kN; F R = 1 4. 1 0 kN; θ = 9 0 °
II – 4 6 7 . 1 9 l b ; θ = 4 1. 7 5 °
II I – F A = 1 2 . 1 4 kN, F B = 1 7 . 7 5 kN
IV – F = 9 7 . 4 l b ; θ = 1 6. 2 °

LE AR NI NG E X E R CIS E N o. 2
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 I – 1 2 Unit s
II – 3 0 Unit s
II I – 4 2 °
IV – 1 5 Unit s
V - ?

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