Chapter 1

Principles of Dynamics

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega 8/29/20 Dynamics of Rigid Bodies

BES6 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies Chapter 1: Principles of Dynamics

1.1 General

Dynamics – branch of mechanics which deals with the study of bodies in motion.

Particle – usually denotes an object of point size. It is a body so small that any differences in the motions
of its parts can be neglected.

Body – denotes a system of particles, which form an object of appreciable size.

Basic Quantity of Dynamics

a. Force – is the action of one body on another. A force tends to move a body in the direction of its
action. The action of a force is characterized by its magnitude, by the direction of its action, and by
its point of application.

b. Length – is a measure of distance.

c. Mass - measure of the resistance of a body to acceleration when a net force is applied on it.

d. Time - is the measure of the succession of events.

1564-1642 – Galileo begun the study of dynamics

1657 – Huygens developed the pendulum clock

1666 – Robert Hooke developed the balance-wheel clock

1.2 Kinematics and Kinetics

1 Kinematics – is the geometry of motion. It is the term used to define the motion of a particle without
consideration of the forces causing the motion. It is the treatment of the relation between
displacement, velocity and acceleration.

2 Kinetics – the study of the relation existing between the forces acting on a body, the mass of the body,
and the motion of the body. It is used to predict the motion caused by given forces or to determine
the forces required to produce a given motion.
BES6 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies Chapter 1: Principles of Dynamics

1.3 Motion of a Particle

Displacement – of a particle is the vector distance from an origin to the positions occupied by the particle
on its path of travel.

Velocity – is the time rate of change of displacement

Δ𝑠
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑒 =
Δ𝑡

∆𝑠 𝑑𝑠
𝑣 = lim | | = (a)
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Acceleration – is the time rate of change of velocity

Δv
𝑎𝑎𝑣𝑒 =
Δ𝑡

∆𝑣 𝑑𝑣
𝑎 = lim | | = (b)
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑠
Since 𝑣 =
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑠
𝑑𝑣 𝑑(𝑑𝑡) 𝑑2𝑠
𝑎= = = (c)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2

Elimination of 𝑑𝑡 in equation (a) and (b) leads to the third equation

𝑣𝑑𝑣 = 𝑎𝑑𝑠 (d)

Differential equation of kinematics

𝑑𝑠
𝑣= (1)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣 𝑑2𝑠
𝑎= = (2)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2

𝑣𝑑𝑣 = 𝑎𝑑𝑠 (3)

1.4 Newton’s Laws of Motion for a Particle

a. A particle acted by a balanced force system has no acceleration.

b. A particle acted by an unbalanced force system has an acceleration in line with and directly
proportional to the resultant of the force system.
𝑊
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 ∝ 𝑎 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑎 = 𝑚𝑎
𝑔

c. Action and reaction forces between two particles are always equal and oppositely directed.
BES6 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies Chapter 1: Principles of Dynamics

1.5 Fundamental Equation of Kinetics for a Particle

𝑅 = 𝑘𝑎 (a)

𝑊 = 𝑘𝑔 (b)
𝑊
𝑅= 𝑎 (4)
𝑔

𝑊
𝑋= 𝑎𝑥
𝑔
𝑊
𝑌= 𝑎𝑦 (5)
𝑔
𝑊
𝑍= 𝑎𝑧 }
𝑔

Where:

R = resultant of the forces acting on a particle

X, Y, Z = components of the resultant force R

𝑎𝑥 , 𝑎𝑦 , 𝑎𝑧 = components of acceleration

Relationship among the four basic quantities of dynamics

𝑀𝐿
𝐹=
𝑇2

1.6 Effective Force on a Particle: Inertia force

Effective force – resultant force acting on the particle

𝑊
𝐹𝑖 = 𝑎 = 𝑚𝑎
𝑔

If inertia force is considered to act on a particle together with the resultant force, the particle will be in a
state of dynamic equilibrium.

1.7 D’Alembert’s Principle

“The resultant of the external forces applied to a body (rigid or non-rigid) composed of a system of
particles is equivalent to the vector summation of the effective forces acting on all particles.”
𝑤1 𝑤2
𝑅= 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 +→ ⋯
𝑔 𝑔

𝑤1 𝑤2
𝑅 = 𝑊 + 𝑃1 + 𝑃2 +→ ⋯ = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 +→ ⋯ (6)
𝑔 𝑔
BES6 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies Chapter 1: Principles of Dynamics

1.8 Motion of the Center of Gravity of Any Body

The vectorial relation expressed in equation (6) can be conveniently handled by algebraic methods only
if each term is resolved into its components.
𝑤1 𝑤2 𝑤3
∑𝑋 = 𝑎1𝑥 + 𝑎 2𝑥 + 𝑎3𝑥 + ⋯ (a)
𝑔 𝑔 𝑔

Locating the center of gravity of the system….

𝑊 𝑤1 𝑤2 𝑤3
𝑥̅ = 𝑥̅1 + 𝑥̅2 + 𝑥̅3 + ⋯ (b)
𝑔 𝑔 𝑔 𝑔

Where: W = the total weight of the system.

𝑑𝑥 𝑑2𝑥
Differentiating equation (b) twice with respect to the time and remembering that = 𝑣𝑥 and =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2
𝑑𝑣𝑥
= 𝑎𝑥 , we have
𝑑𝑡
𝑊 𝑤1 𝑤2 𝑤3
𝑎̅𝑥 = 𝑎1𝑥 + 𝑎2𝑥 + 𝑎 3𝑥 + ⋯ (c)
𝑔 𝑔 𝑔 𝑔

Where: 𝑎̅𝑥 is the x-component of the acceleration of the center of gravity

Comparison of the right-hand member of equation (a) and (c) shows them to be identical: hence we
conclude that the left-hand terms must be equal, or
𝑊
∑𝑋 = 𝑎̅𝑥 (d)
𝑔

Similar procedure can be followed with respect to the y and z-axes, and the relation between the external
forces acting on any body, the mass of the body, and the acceleration of its center of gravity may be
stated by the following equations:
𝑊
∑𝑋 = 𝑎̅𝑥
𝑔
𝑊
∑𝑌 = 𝑎̅𝑦 (7)
𝑔
𝑊
∑𝑍 = 𝑎̅𝑧 }
𝑔

In terms of the resultant force R and the resultant acceleration 𝑎̅ of the center of gravity, the equation
becomes
𝑊
𝑅= 𝑎 (8)
𝑔