ENGINEERING MECHANICS:

INTRODUCTION
EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

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EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS
MECHANICS
MECHANICS

FLUID

MECHANICS IS A BRANCH OF THE PHYSICAL

SCIENCES THAT IS CONCERNED WITH THE DEFORMABLE BODIES

STATE OF REST OR MOTION OF BODIES THAT

ARE SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF FORCES. RIGID BODIES
IN GENERAL, THIS SUBJECT CAN BE
SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE BRANCHES: RIGID-
BODY MECHANICS, DEFORMABLE-BODY
MECHANICS, AND FLUID MECHANICS.
STATICS MECHANICS

STATICS IS CONCERNED WITH THE FLUID

EQUILIBRIUM OF A BODY THAT IS EITHER AT
REST OR MOVES WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY.
DEFORMABLE BODIES

DYNAMICS RIGID BODIES

DYNAMICS IS ONE OF THE BRANCHES OF RIGID STATICS

BODY MECHANICS THAT DEALS WITH THE
STUDY OF BODIES IN ACCELERATED MOTION. DYNAMICS
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
PARTICLES
IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS COURSE, IT DOES NOT INDICATE
“SMALLNESS OF SIZE”, RATHER, IT MEANS THAT THE SHAPE AND
SIZE OF THE OBJECT DOES NOT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEMS UNDER CONSIDERATION.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
RIGID BODIES
THE PROBLEMS CONSIDERED IN THIS COURSE ARE ASSUMED TO
BE NON-DEFORMABLE. AGAIN, SUCH ASSUMPTION DOES NOT
SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEMS UNDER
CONSIDERATION.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
BASIC QUANTITIES:

LENGTH.
LENGTH IS USED TO LOCATE THE POSITION OF A POINT IN SPACE
AND THEREBY DESCRIBE THE SIZE OF A PHYSICAL SYSTEM. ONCE
A STANDARD UNIT OF LENGTH IS DEFINED, ONE CAN THEN USE IT
TO DEFINE DISTANCES AND GEOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A BODY
AS MULTIPLES OF THIS UNIT.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
BASIC QUANTITIES:

TIME.
TIME IS CONCEIVED AS A SUCCESSION OF EVENTS. ALTHOUGH THE
PRINCIPLES OF STATICS ARE TIME INDEPENDENT, THIS QUANTITY
PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE STUDY OF DYNAMICS.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
BASIC QUANTITIES:

MASS.
MASS IS A MEASURE OF A QUANTITY OF MATTER THAT IS USED TO
COMPARE THE ACTION OF ONE BODY WITH THAT OF ANOTHER.
THIS PROPERTY MANIFESTS ITSELF AS A GRAVITATIONAL
ATTRACTION BETWEEN TWO BODIES AND PROVIDES A MEASURE OF
THE RESISTANCE OF MATTER TO A CHANGE IN VELOCITY.
FORCES
IN GENERAL, FORCE IS CONSIDERED AS A “PUSH” OR “PULL” EXERTED BY
ONE BODY ON ANOTHER. THIS INTERACTION CAN OCCUR WHEN THERE IS
DIRECT CONTACT BETWEEN THE BODIES, SUCH AS A PERSON PUSHING ON
A WALL, OR IT CAN OCCUR THROUGH A DISTANCE WHEN THE BODIES ARE
PHYSICALLY SEPARATED. IT IS REPRESENTED BY A VECTOR.
NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION
NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION: THE
LAW OF INERTIA

THE FIRST LAW STATES THAT A BODY AT

REST WILL REMAIN AT REST AND A BODY IN
MOTION STAYS IN MOTION WITH THE SAME
SPEED AND DIRECTION UNLESS AN
UNBALANCED FORCE INTERACTS WITH THE
BODY.
NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION
NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION:
THE LAW OF ACCELERATION 𝑎
THE SECOND LAW OF MOTION PERTAINS TO THE
BEHAVIOR OF A BODY WHEN THE FORCES ACTING TO ITS 𝐹 𝑚
SYSTEM IS UNBALANCED. ACCORDING TO NEWTON’S
SECOND LAW OF MOTION, THE ACCELERATION (𝒂) OF THE
BODY WHEN UNBALANCED FORCE IS APPLIED DEPENDS
DIRECTLY TO THE NET FORCE (F) ACTING IN THE BODY
AND INVERSELY TO THE MASS (M) OF THE BODY.

෍ 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 = 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2 = 𝑁

WHERE:
𝑚 IS THE MASS (𝑘𝑔, 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠)
𝑎 IS THE ACCELERATION (𝑚/𝑠 2 , 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2 )
𝐹 IS THE FORCE (𝑁, 𝑙𝑏)
SECOND LAW OF MOTION: THE LAW OF ACCELERATION
THE SUM OF THE FORCES IS EQUATED TO THIS
PRODUCT OF THE MASS OF THE OBJECT AND ITS
ACCELERATION. FORCES ARE UNBALANCED
THERE IS 𝒂
෍ 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎

THE NET FORCE IS THE VECTOR SUM OF ALL THE THE ACCELERATION DEPENDS
DIRECTLY UPON THE NET FORCE.
FORCES ACTING ON THE OBJECT.
THE NEWTON’S SECOND LAW CAN BE EXPRESSED THE ACCELERATION DEPENDS
INVERSELY UPON OBJECT’S MASS.
IN TERMS OF 3 COMPONENTS.

෍ 𝐹𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ෍ 𝐹𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ෍ 𝐹𝑧 = 𝑚𝑎𝑧

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE, 𝐹𝑔 , IS THE FORCE THAT THE
EARTH EXERTS ON AN OBJECT. THIS IS THE FORCE
DIRECTED TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. ITS
MAGNITUDE IS CALLED THE WEIGHT OF THE OBJECT.

෍ 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎

𝑊 = 𝐹𝑔 = 𝑚𝑔
WHERE:
𝑚 IS THE MASS (𝑘𝑔, 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠)
𝑔 IS THE GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION (𝑚/𝑠 2 , 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2 )
𝑊 IS THE WEIGHT (𝑁, 𝑙𝑏)
WEIGHT
WEIGHT IS EQUAL TO THE MAGNITUDE OF THE
GRAVITATIIONAL FORCE EXERTED ON THE OBJECT. MASS
AND WEIGHT ARE TWO DIFFERENT QUANTITIES. WEIGHT,
UNLIKE MASS, VARIES WITH LOCATION. IT IS A VECTOR
QUANTITY WITH THE UNIT 𝑁 OR 𝑙𝑏. MATHEMATICALLY, IT
CAN BE EXPRESSED AS:

𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔 = 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2 = 𝑁
WHERE: RECALL:
𝑚 IS THE MASS (𝑘𝑔, 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠) ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE
𝑔 = 9.81𝑚/𝑠 2
𝑔 IS THE GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION (𝑚/𝑠 2 , 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2 )
𝑔 = 32.2𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2
𝑊 IS THE WEIGHT (𝑁, 𝑙𝑏)
FUNDAMENTAL UNITS
SI UNIT ENGLISH SYSTEM
QUANTITY DIMENSIONS
UNIT SYMBOL UNIT SYMBOL
MASS 𝑀 KILOGRAM 𝑘𝑔 SLUGS 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠
LENGTH 𝐿 METER 𝑚 FEET 𝑓𝑡
TIME 𝑇 SECOND 𝑠 SECOND 𝑠
FORCE 𝐹 NEWTON 𝑁 POUND 𝑙𝑏

𝑁 = 𝑘𝑔 ∙ 𝑚/𝑠 2 NOTE!
1 NEWTON IS THE FORCE REQUIRED TO GIVE
A MASS OF 1𝑘𝑔 AN ACCELERATION OF 1𝑚/𝑠 2 .
NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION
NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION: THE LAW
OF ACTION AND REACTION

FOR EVERY ACTION, THERE IS AN EQUAL AND

OPPOSITE REACTION. THE STATEMENT MEANS
THAT IN EVERY INTERACTION, THERE IS A PAIR OF
FORCES ACTING ON THE TWO INTERACTING
OBJECTS. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE FORCE ON THE
FIRST OBJECT EQUALS THE MAGNITUDE OF THE
FORCE ON THE SECOND OBJECT.
THIRD LAW OF MOTION: THE LAW OF ACTION AND REACTION
IF TWO OBJECTS INTERACT, THE FORCE EXERTED BY OBJECT “A” ON OBJECT “B” IS EQUAL IN
MAGNITUDE, AND OPPOSITE IN DIRECTION, TO THE FORCE EXERTED BY OBJECT “B” ON OBJECT “A”.
FORCES ALWAYS OCCUR IN PAIRS AND A SINGLE ISOLATED FORCE CANNOT EXIST.

THE ACTION FORCE IS EQUAL IN MAGNITUDE TO THE

REACTION FORCE AND OPPOSITE IN DIRECTION.
𝐹𝐴𝐵 = −𝐹𝐵𝐴 A B
NOTE! 𝐹𝐴𝐵 IS THE FORCE EXERTED BY “A” ON “B”

✓ONE OF THE FORCES IS THE ACTION, THE OTHER IS THE

REACTION FORCE. 𝐹𝐴𝐵 𝐹𝐵𝐴

✓IT DOESN’T MATTER WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE ACTION

AND WHICH IS THE REACTION.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
APPLIED FORCE
AN APPLIED FORCE IS A FORCE THAT
IS APPLIED TO AN OBJECT BY A
PERSON OR ANOTHER OBJECT. AN
EXAMPLE IS WHEN A MAN PUSHES A
TABLE, THERE IS AN APPLIED FORCE
EXERTED BY THE MAN IN PUSHING
THE TABLE.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
NORMAL FORCE
THE NORMAL FORCE IS THE SUPPORT
FORCE EXERTED UPON AN OBJECT
THAT IS IN CONTACT WITH ANOTHER
STABLE OBJECT. THE NAME
'NORMAL' MEANS PERPENDICULAR
TO THE SURFACE.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
AIR RESISTANCE FORCE
THE AIR RESISTANCE IS A SPECIAL
TYPE OF FRICTIONAL FORCE THAT
ACTS UPON OBJECTS AS THEY
TRAVEL THROUGH THE AIR. THE
FORCE OF AIR RESISTANCE IS OFTEN
OBSERVED TO OPPOSE THE MOTION
OF AN OBJECT.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
TENSION FORCE (T)
AND COMPRESSION FORCE (C)
THE TENSION FORCE IS THE FORCE THAT
IS TRANSMITTED THROUGH A STRING,
ROPE, CABLE OR WIRE WHEN IT IS
PULLED TIGHT BY FORCES ACTING FROM
OPPOSITE ENDS. TENSION FORCE IS THE
FORCE DIRECTED AWAY FROM THE BODY.
COMPRESSION IS THE FORCE ACTING
TOWARDS THE BODY.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
SPRING FORCE
THE SPRING FORCE IS THE FORCE EXERTED
BY A COMPRESSED OR STRETCHED SPRING
UPON ANY OBJECT THAT IS ATTACHED TO IT.
AN OBJECT THAT COMPRESSES OR
STRETCHES A SPRING IS ALWAYS ACTED
UPON BY A FORCE THAT RESTORES THE
OBJECT TO ITS REST OR EQUILIBRIUM
POSITION.
DIFFERENT FORCES:
WEIGHT (W)
IT IS THE FORCE WITH WHICH THE EARTH,
MOON, OR OTHER MASSIVELY LARGE
OBJECT ATTRACTS ANOTHER OBJECT
TOWARDS ITSELF. BY MEANS, THIS IS THE
WEIGHT OF THE OBJECT. ALL FORCES
CAUSED BY GRAVITATIONAL FORCE ARE
DIRECTED ‘DOWNWARDS.’
DIFFERENT FORCES:
FRICTION
FRICTION IS THE RESISTANCE TO MOTION
OF ONE OBJECT MOVING RELATIVE TO
ANOTHER. IT IS NOT A FUNDAMENTAL
FORCE, FRICTION IS THE FORCE OF
RESISTANCE THAT OPPOSES THE MOTION
OF A BODY. ALL BODY TRAVELLING IN
ANY MEDIUM EXPERIENCES THIS KIND OF
FORCE.
EFFECT OF A FORCE
✓DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER FORCES
(REACTIONS OR INTERNAL FORCES)
✓DEFORMATION OF THE BODY
✓ACCELERATION OF THE BODY
EFFECT OF A FORCE
✓DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER FORCES
(REACTIONS OR INTERNAL FORCES)
✓DEFORMATION OF THE BODY
✓ACCELERATION OF THE BODY
 𝑷

DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER FORCES

DEVELOPMENT OF FORCE OR FORCES
AT POINTS OF CONTACT WITH OTHER
BODIES (REACTIONS).

𝑹
 𝑷

DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER FORCES

DEVELOPMENT OF FORCES WITHIN THE
BODY ITSELF (INTERNAL FORCES)

𝑹
 𝑷

DEFORMATION OF THE BODY

𝑹
ACCELERATION OF THE BODY
𝑷

𝑭
FORCE SYSTEM
FORCE SYSTEM IS THE SET FORCES ACTING ON A BODY OR A
GROUP OF BODIES.FORCE SYSTEM IS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING
TO THE ORIENTATION OF THE LINES OR EFFECT OF THE ACTION
OF THESE FORCE. THE SYSTEM OF FORCE IS MAINLY
CLASSIFIED IN COPLANAR AND NON-COPLANAR.
 FORCE SYSTEM

NON-COPLANAR

COPLANAR

𝛽
𝛼
A FORCE SYSTEM IS SAID TO
BE COPLANAR IF THE LINES y
OF THE ACTION OF ALL x
FORCES LIE IN ONE PLANE.
FORCE SYSTEM A FORCE SYSTEM IS SAID
TO BE CONCURRENT IF
THE LINES OF ALL
NON-COPLANAR 𝛽
FORCES INTERSECT AT A 𝛼
COMMON POINT. y
COPLANAR
x
CONCURRENT

𝛼 𝛽

𝜃 y
x
FORCE SYSTEM IN A PARALLEL SYSTEM
OF FORCES, THE LINE OF
NON-COPLANAR ACTIONS OF ALL FORCES
IS PARALLEL TO EACH
COPLANAR
OTHER.
y
x
CONCURRENT

PARALLEL

y
x
FORCE SYSTEM
IF THE LINE OF ACTION OF
ALL FORCES DOES NOT
PASS THROUGH A SINGLE 𝛽
NON-COPLANAR
POINT, THEN THEY ARE
CALLED AS NON-
COPLANAR CONCURRENT FORCES. y
x
CONCURRENT

PARALLEL

NON-CONCURRENT

y
x
FORCE SYSTEM

NON-COPLANAR

COPLANAR
𝛽

CONCURRENT

y
PARALLEL
x

NON-CONCURRENT
IN A COLLINEAR FORCE SYSTEM, THE LINE OF ACTION OF
COLLINEAR
THE ENTIRE FORCE SYSTEM IS IN THE SAME DIRECTION.
ENGINEERING MECHANICS:
INTRODUCTION
EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

This material is for use and distribution only within the

EE 202: ENGINEERING MECHANICS