ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Mechanics is that science which describes and predicts the

Fundamental Units:
Derived Units:
Scalar quantities: These are the physical quantities characterized by only magnitude, such as mass,
temperature.

Vector quantities: These are the physical quantities characterized by magnitude and direction, such as
velocity, force.

Free vector: It is a vector, whose action is not confined to or associated with a unique line in space. Only,
the direction and magnitude of the vector remains fixed.

Sliding vector: It is a vector, which may be moved along the lines of action without change of meaning.
For example, in towing a cart, we may apply the force anywhere along the rope.

Bound vector: It is a vector, which must be applied at definite point. For example, if we are interested in
the deformation of body, we must be concerned with the point of application of forces.

IDEALIZATIONS:

Mathematical models or idealizations are used in mechanics to simplify the theory. The more common
ones, in order of sophistication, are:

Particle: A particle has a mass but a size that can be neglected i.e., the geometry of the body is
ignored. A particle is often represented by a point in space.

Rigid Body: A rigid body has a mass and a size (shape) but it is assumed that any changes in shape
can be neglected i.e., the geometry of the body is taken into account but any deformations (changes in
shape) are ignored. Consequently, the material properties of the body can be ignored. A rigid body is
often represented as a collection of particles in which all the particles remain at a fixed distance from
each other before and after applying a load.

Deformable or Elastic Body: A deformable body has a mass, a size (shape) and the deformations
(changes in shape) of the body are taken into account. Hence the material properties of the body must
be considered in describing the behavior of the body.

Concentrated Force: A concentrated force represents the effect of a loading which is assumed to act
at a point on a body. This idealization requires that the area over which the load is applied is very small
compared to the overall size of the body e.g., contact force between wheel and ground.
Scalar: A scalar is any positive or negative physical quantity that can be completely specified by its
magnitude.

Examples : length, mass, and time.

Vector. A vector is any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude and a direction for its complete
description.

Examples: force, position, and moment.

A vector is shown graphically by an arrow.

The length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the vector,

The angle θ between the vector and a fixed axis defines the direction of its line of action.

The head or tip of the arrow indicates the sense of direction of the vector,

Addition of Vectors:
Resultant of concurrent forces:

The parallelogram law of forces states that if two forces acting simultaneously on a body at a point are
represented by the two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, their resultant is represented in magnitude
and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram which passes through the point of intersection of the
two sides representing the forces.

• First join the tails of the components at a point to make them concurrent, Fig. b.
• From the head of B, draw a line parallel to A. Draw another line from the head of A that is
parallel to B. These two lines intersect at point P to form the adjacent sides of a parallelogram.
 • The diagonal of this parallelogram that extends to P forms R, which then represents the
resultant vector R = A + B, Fig. c.
The Triangle Law: It states that if two vectors a and b can be represented by the two sides of a
triangle (in magnitude and direction) taken in order, then the third side (closing side) represents the sum
of the two vectors in the opposite order.

The addition of vectors is independent of the order in which the vectors are selected. Hence it
can say that vectors follow Commutative Law.
 The vectors can be grouped without any restriction. Hence, vectors also follow Associative Law
as shown in fig.

Law of Polygon of Forces states that if any number of coplanar concurrent forces can be represented in
magnitude and direction by the sides of a polygon taken in order; then their resultant will be
represented by the closing side of the polygon taken in opposite order.

The Principle of Transmissibility: This states that the conditions of equilibrium or of motion of a
rigid body will remain unchanged if a force acting at a given point of the rigid body is replaced by a force
of the same magnitude and same direction, but acting at a different point, provided that the two forces
have the same line of action.
=
Rectangular Components:

The most common two-dimensional resolution of a force vector is into rectangular components. It
follows from the parallelogram rule that the vector F of Fig. may be written as

F = Fx + Fy

where Fx and Fy are vector components of F in the x- and y-directions.

The scalar components can be positive or negative, depending on the quadrant into which F points. For
the force vector of Fig., the x and y scalar components are both positive and are related to the
magnitude and direction of F by
Newton’s Three Fundamental Laws: Formulated by Sir Isaac Newton in the latter part of the
seventeenth century, these laws can be stated as follows:

FIRST LAW: If the resultant force acting on a particle is zero, the particle will remain at rest
(if originally at rest) or will move with constant speed in a straight line (if originally in motion)

SECOND LAW: If the resultant force acting on a particle is not zero, the particle will have an
acceleration proportional to the magnitude of the resultant and in the direction of this resultant
force.

F = ma

where F , m , and a represent, respectively, the resultant force acting on the particle, the mass
of the particle, and the acceleration of the particle, expressed in a consistent system of units.

THIRD LAW: The forces of action and reaction between bodies in contact have the same
magnitude, same line of action, and opposite sense.

Newton’s Law of Gravitation: This states that two particles of mass M and m are
mutually attracted with equal and opposite forces F and -F of magnitude F given by the formula

F = GMm/r2
Where,

F = force of gravitation between the two particles

G = universal constant of gravitation; according to experimental evidence,

G = 66.73(10-12) m3/ (kg .s2)

r = distance between the two particles

MOMENT OF FORCE:
Varignon’s Theorem: It states that the moment of a force about any point is equal to the sum
of the moments of the components of the force about the same point.
COUPLE: The moment produced by two equal, opposite and noncollinear forces is called a couple.

MOMENT OF COUPLE:

Equivalent couples

Force-couple system
RESULTANT: The resultant of a system of forces is the simplest force combination which can replace
the original forces without altering the external effect on the rigid body to which the forces are applied.
3.1 A particle is acted on in the horizontal plane by three forces having magnitudes 20 N, 30 N and 40 N.
If the particle is in equilibrium under these forces find the directions of the 20 Nand 30 N forces relative
to the 40 N force. (A graphical solution is suggested.)

3.2 A particle, mass 0.2 kg, is held at rest on an inclined plane of slope 30° to the horizontal by the
application of a force P, which is at 60° to the horizontal. Assuming the reaction N of the plane on the
particle is normal to the plane find the magnitudes of P and N. (Hint: Draw a free- body diagram of the
three forces acting on the particle.)

3.3 Two cords, lengths 3m and 4 m respectively, are each attached at one end to two points 5 m apart
horizontally. The free ends of the cords are joined together to one end of another cord of length 2 m. To
the free end of the latter is attached a small body, mass 2 kg, which is being pulled with a horizontal
force 15 N to the same side as that of the 3 m cord. Determine the inclination of the 2 m cord to the
vertical and the forces in the 3 m and 4 m cords. (Hint: Consider first the three forces acting on the body
(draw a free-body diagram) and hence find the force and inclination of the 2 m cord; draw a free- body
diagram for the junction of the three cords and solve for the other unknowns.)

3.4 Four forces 10 N L 0°, 15 N L 60°, 20 N L 120°, and 30 N L 180° act in the horizontal plane on a
particle.

(a) Determine from a force polygon the resultant of these forces.

(b) What force is required to maintain the particle in equilibrium?

3.5 An airship, mass 10 000 kg, is tethered by four ropes equally disposed around it and each making an
angle of 15° with the vertical (the four ropes would thus be on the face of a cone with vertex angle 30°).
What is the lift force on the ship if the force in each rope is 20 000 N? (Hint: The resultant vertical force
is zero.)

3.6 A particle is moving with constant velocity in a straight line on a smooth horizontal surface under the
action of the following forces, which all act in the horizontal plane: 100 N L 0°; Q L 70°, P L 150°; 70 N L
225° and 80 N L 300°. Use a polygon of forces to determine the magnitudes of P and Q.

3.7 If in problem 3.6 P and Q are allowed to take up any direction as long as they are mutually
perpendicular, fmd their magnitudes and directions if the magnitude of Pis to be twice that of Q.
3.8 A piece of cord of length 2.5 m is connected between two points 2m apart horizontally. A massless
pulley is placed on the cord and a force 20 N L- 80° is applied to it.

(a) Show that when the pulley reaches a state of rest the angles that the two portions of the cord make
with the horizontal differ by 20°.

(b) Verify that the relevant equations are satisfied when the smaller angle is 28° and hence determine
the tension in the cord.

(Hint: Cord tension is constant. For (a) use the force triangle, for (b) criteria to be satisfied involve
geometrical relations of cord length and distance between supports, relationship from (a) between the
cord angles; note that only two useful equations can be derived from the force triangle- any others will
be redundant.)
 FRICTION

From the description given above, it appears that four different situations can occur when a rigid body is
in contact with a horizontal surface:

1. The forces applied to the body do not tend to move it along the surface of contact; there is no friction
force (Fig. 8.2a).

2. The applied forces tend to move the body along the surface of contact but are not large enough to set
it in motion. The friction force F which has developed can be found by solving the equations of
equilibrium for the body. Since there is no evidence that F has reached its maximum value, the equation
Fm = µsN cannot be used to determine the friction force (Fig. 8.2b).

3. The applied forces are such that the body is just about to slide. We say that motion is impending. The
friction force F has reached its maximum value Fm and, together with the normal force N, balances the
applied forces. Both the equations of equilibrium and the equation Fm = µsN can be used. We also note
that the friction force has a sense opposite to the sense of impending motion (Fig. 8.2c).

4. The body is sliding under the action of the applied forces, and the equations of equilibrium do not
apply any more. However, F is now equal to Fk and the equation Fk = µkN may be used. The sense of Fk is
opposite to the sense of motion (Fig. 8.2d).
SAMPLE PROBLEM 8.2

A support block is acted upon by two forces as shown. Knowing that the coefficients of friction between
the block and the incline are ms 5 0.35 and mk 5 0.25, determine the force P required (a) to start the
block moving up the incline, (b) to keep it moving up, (c) to prevent it from sliding down.
SOLUTION:

Free-Body Diagram. For each part of the problem we draw a free-body diagram of the block and a force
triangle including the 800-N vertical force, the horizontal force P, and the force R exerted on the block
by the incline.

The direction of R must be determined in each separate case. We note that since P is perpendicular to
the 800-N force, the force triangle is a right triangle, which can easily be solved for P. In most other
problems, however, the force triangle will be an oblique triangle and should be solved by applying the
law of sines.

a. Force P to Start Block Moving Up: P = (800 N) tan 44.29°, P = 780 N

b. Force P to Keep Block Moving Up: P = (800 N) tan 39.04° P =

c. Force P to Prevent Block from Sliding Down: P = (800 N) tan 5.71° P=