ES2 – DYNAMICS OF RIGID BODIES

MECHANICS is a branch of the physical sciences that is concerned with the state of rest or motion
of bodies subjected to the action of forces. Engineering mechanics is divided into two areas of
study, namely,
 STATICS is concerned with the equilibrium of a body that is either at rest or moves with
constant velocity.

 DYNAMICS is the part of mechanics that deals with the analysis of bodies in motion.

History of Dynamics
Historically the principles of dynamics developed when it was possible to make an accurate
measurement of time.
 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was one of the first major contributors to this field. His work
consisted of experiments using pendulums and falling bodies.,
 The most significant contributions in dynamics, however, were made by Isaac Newton (1642-
1727), who is noted for his formulation of the three fundamental laws of motion and law of
universal gravitational attraction.
 Shortly after these laws were postulated, important techniques for their application were
developed by Euler, D’Alembert, Lagrange and others.

Application of Dynamics
There are many problems in engineering whose solutions require application of the
principles of dynamics.
 Typically, the structural design of any vehicle, such as an automobile or airplane, requires
consideration of the motion to which it is subjected.
 This is also true for many mechanical devices, such as motors, pumps, movable tools,
industrial manipulators, and machinery.
 Furthermore, predictions of the motions of artificial satellites, projectiles, and spacecraft are
based on the theory of dynamics.
With further advances in technology, there will be an even greater need for knowing how
to apply the principles of this subject.

Two Areas of Dynamics:

1. Kinematics is the study of geometry motion without reference to what causes the motion. It
is used to described the motion of the body weather it is moving, accelerating or covering
a specific travel distance

Examples: falling bodies, simple rectilinear motion of a car traversing a particular distance at
a certain speed or acceleration

2. Kinetics is the study of geometry motion which considers what causes the motion in order to
analyze the motion. Whether it is due to physically applied force or due to magnetic
attraction or other causes

Examples: pulling the string of the bow to fire the arrow, yoyo performance due to varying
tension applied to the thread.

Idealization in Mechanics
- Assumptions that are used to simplify the analysis of the problem without significantly
affecting the results.

1. As Particle – an entity considerable mass but negligible dimension. This assumption is relative
to the sizes of other bodies included in the analysis. A particle is a body so small that any
differences in the motions of its parts can be neglected.
 2. As Rigid Body – a solid or a deformable body having considerable mass and dimension.
Combination of several large particles. Deformation due to applied forces is negligible.

Kinematics of a Particle
We will begin our study of dynamics by discussing the kinematics of a particle that moves
along a rectilinear or straight-line path.
 Recall that a particle has a mass but negligible size and shape.
 In most problems, we will be interested in bodies of finite size, such as rockets, projectiles, or
vehicles. Each pf these objects can be considered as a particle, as long as the motion is
characterized by the motion of its mass center and any rotation of the body is neglected.

Motion of a Particle
Rectilinear kinematics refers to straight line motion. The kinematics of a particle is
characterized by specifying, at any given instant, the particle’s position, velocity and acceleration.

Position
 The straight-line path of a particle will be defined using a single coordinate axis s.
 The origin O on the path is a fixed point, and from this point the position coordinate s is used
to specify the location of the particle at any given instant.
 The magnitude of s is the distance from O to the particle, usually measured in meter(m) or
feet(ft), and the sense of direction is defined by the algebraic sign on s.
 Realize that position is a vector quantity since it has both magnitude and direction.

Displacement
 The displacement of the particle is defined as the change in its position.
 For example, if the particles move from one point to another, the displacement is
∆𝒔 = 𝒔′ − 𝒔
Where: ∆𝒔 is the displacement
s’ is the new position of the particle
s is the initial position of the particle

 In this case ∆𝐬 is positive since the particle’s final position is to the right of its initial position.
Likewise, if the final position were to the left of its initial position, ∆𝒔 would be negative.
 The displacement of a particle is also a vector quantity, and it should be distinguished from
the distance the particle travels. Specifically, the distance traveled is a positive scalar that
represent the total length of path over which the particle travels.

Velocity
 If the particle moves through a displacement of ∆𝒔 during the time interval ∆𝒕, the average
velocity of the particle during this time interval is
∆𝒔
𝒗𝒂𝒗𝒆 =
∆𝒕
Where: 𝒗𝒂𝒗𝒆 is the average velocity
∆𝒔 is the displacement
∆𝒕 is the time interval

 If we take smaller and smaller values of∆𝒕. The magnitude of ∆𝒔 becomes smaller and
smaller. Consequently, the instantaneous velocity is a vector.
𝒅𝒔
𝒗=
𝒅𝒕
 Where: 𝒗 is the instantaneous velocity
𝒅𝒔 is the displacement
𝒅𝒕 is the time interval

 Since ∆𝒕 or dt is always positive, the sign used define the sense of the velocity is the same as
that of ∆𝒔 or ds. For example, if the particle is moving to the right, the velocity is positive;
whereas if it is moving to the left, the velocity is negative.
 The magnitude of the velocity is known as the speed, and it is generally expressed in units of
m/s or ft/s
 Occasionally, the term “average speed” is used. The average speed is always a positive
scalar and is defined as the total distance traveled by a particle, ST, divided by the elapsed
time ∆𝒕
𝒔𝑻
(𝒗𝒔𝒑 )𝒂𝒗𝒆 =
∆𝒕
Where: (𝒗𝒔𝒑 )𝒂𝒗𝒆 is the average speed
𝒔𝑻 is the total distance traveled
∆𝒕 is the elapsed time

For example, the particle travels along the path of length ST in time∆𝒕, so its average is
𝒔𝑻 −∆𝒔
(𝒗𝒔𝒑) = but its average velocity is 𝒗𝒂𝒗𝒆 =
𝒂𝒗𝒆 ∆𝒕 ∆𝒕

Acceleration
 Provided the velocity of the particle is known at two points, the average acceleration of the
particle during the time interval ∆𝒕 is defined as
∆𝒗
𝒂𝒂𝒗𝒆 =
∆𝒕
Where: 𝒂𝒂𝒗𝒆 is the average acceleration
∆𝒗 is the difference/change in velocity
∆𝒕 is the time interval

 Here ∆𝒗 represents the difference in the velocity during the time interval ∆𝒕
∆𝒗 = 𝒗′ −𝒗
Where: ∆𝒗 is the difference/change in velocity
v’ is the final velocity
v is the initial velocity

 The instantaneous acceleration at time t is a vector that is found by taking smaller and smaller
values of ∆𝒕 and corresponding smaller and smaller values of ∆𝒗,so that
𝒅𝒗
𝒂=
𝒅𝒕

Where: a is the instantaneous acceleration/acceleration

dv is the change in velocity
dt is the change in time
 Substituting (1-1) into this result, we can also write
𝒅𝟐 𝒔
𝒂= 𝟐
𝒅𝒕
 Finally, an important differential relation involving the displacement, velocity and
acceleration along the path may be obtained by eliminating the time differential dt
between Equations (1-1) and (1-2)

𝒂𝒅𝒔 = 𝒗𝒅𝒗
 Although we have now produced three important kinematic equations, realize that the
above equation is not independent of Equations 1-1 and 1-2.

Units
 Displacement: feet (ft), meters (m) etc.
 Velocity: ft/s, m/s, cm/s, mi/hr, etc.
 Acceleration: ft/s2, m/s2, mi/hr2, etc

Newton’s Law of Motion for a Particle

Newton’s Laws of motion for a particle have been stated in variety of ways.
Four our purposes, we shall phrase them as follows:
1. A particle acted upon by a balanced force system has no acceleration.

2. A particle acted upon by an unbalanced force system has an acceleration in line with and
directly proportional to the resultant of the force system.
𝑭 = 𝒌𝒂
𝑭 = 𝒎𝒂
𝒘
𝑭= 𝒂
𝒈

Where: F is the resultant

k is the proportionality constant
m is the mass
W is the weight
g is the acceleration due to gravity
a is the acceleration

3. Action and reaction forces between two particles are always equal and oppositely directed.