Engineering Mechanics

Tool Purpose Application Limitations

(Vector Addition/ Subtraction) adding two vectors together magnitudes and their directions
Parallelogram Law

a special case of the parallelogram

law, whereby vector B is added to
(Vector Addition/ Subtraction) adding two vectors together magnitudes and their directions
vector A in a head-to-tail fashion,
Triangle Law i.e., by connecting the head of

A to the tail of

(Cartesian Vector) the direction of A can be specified

using two angles
Transverse and Azmuth Angles

the direction of A coordinate direction angles a

(alpha), b (beta), and g (gamma),
(Cartesian Vector)
measured between the tail of A and
Coordinate Direction Angles the positive x, y, z axes provided they
are located at the tail of A

(Cartesian Vector) obtain the magnitude of A A A provided it is expressed in

Cartesian vector form
Magnitude of a Cartesian Vector

Cartesian Unit Vectors used to designate the directions of In three dimensions, the set of
the x, y, z axes Cartesian unit vectors are i, j, k

the thumb of the right hand points

in the direction of the positive z axis
(Cartesian Vector) Right Hand Rule finding direction
when the right-hand fingers are
curled about this axis and directed

(Cartesian Vector) Rectangular
Components of a Vector
Force Vector Directed along a Line
(Moment of Vectors) Dot Product
(Moment of Force) Cross Product
Coplanar Force System
Three- Dimensional Force System
(Principle of Moments)
Varignons Theorem
Couple
resolve the vector
Direction of a force
product of the magnitudes of A and B
and the cosine of the angle u between
their tail
resolve the forces into their
respective i, j, k components
the moment of a force about a point
is equal to the sum of the moments of
the components of the force about
the point
produce an actual rotation,
rotation in a specified direction
finding angle between two lines or
the components of a force parallel
and perpendicular to a line
magnitude and direction
force
forces
resolving the force into its
rectangular components and then
determine the moment using a
scalar analysis
moment
from the positive x towards the
positive y axis,
three-dimensional statics problems
vector methods should be employed
for the solutions in three- dimension
unlike the two- dimensioned
problems
using Cartesian vectors
lie in the xy plane,
forces must sum to produce a zero
force resultant
using the vector cross product since
the cross product obeys the
distributive law
two parallel forces that have the
same magnitude, but opposite
directions, and are separated by a
perpendicular distance d