SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED MECHANICS

Mechanics, Statics and Dynamics

Mechanics
Mechanics is the study of forces and their effects. The forces could be natural
forces or man made.

Examples of natural forces:

Gravitation; causing the body to have weight
Magnetic
Friction

Most of the forces involved in engineering are caused by human activity.

People want to do things to satisfy their needs; they want to move things, to
change things, to walk, to talk, to eat, etc. All of this requires forces, which
can be exerted by their own muscles or by using machines.

Machines increase the magnitude and duration of these forces.

A Person can run a distance of 100 metres in 10 seconds while a car
can carry the same person the same distance in less than 3 seconds (a
third of the time) without getting tired.
A person can carry a 50 kg weight a distance of one to two metres; a
crane on the other hand can carry many tonnes, tens of metres.

It is mechanics that helps engineers to help man.

Mechanics

The science that describes and predicts the behaviour of a body under the
influence of a force or a group of forces. Mechanics can be subdivided into
mechanics of rigid bodies and mechanics of fluids. Mechanics of rigid bodies
is further divided into Statics and Dynamics.

Statics

Statics is the study of bodies at equilibrium. When the net result of all forces
acting on the body is zero, the body is either at rest or moving at a constant
velocity and it is considered to be in equilibrium.

Dynamics

Dynamics includes the study of bodies in motion under the influence of

unbalanced forces.

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Engineering Application Example

For example consider an engineer designing the mechanism required to pull a

barge using two tugboats. What forces are involved in the towing? Where do
they act? The engineer must design the different components including
pulleys, ropes etc to withstand the forces in place. He must also select the size
of the tugboats and the engine power necessary to pull the weight of the barge
fully loaded taken into account currents and winds.

Select other examples from the Reference Book (pages 5, 6 & 7) to discuss in
class. In each case draw a free body diagram, identify the forces and their
action points and determine whether the body is in equilibrium.

Space, Time and Mass

The basic concepts used in mechanics are space, time and mass. They are
accepted on the basis of our experience and knowledge and cannot be truly
defined. These are called fundamental quantities and all other quantities, such
as force, pressure, energy and density, are expressed in terms of these
fundamental quantities.

Space

The position of point P in space can be defined by three lengths measured

from a certain reference point, or origin, in three given directions. These
lengths are known as the coordinates of P.

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Point P can be defined by three length i,j,k
from an arbitrary reference point O
Y

P
j

O i
X
k

Length

The basic SI units of length is the metre (m).

Time

To define an incident, not only we need to indicate its position in space, but
we also need to define the time and duration of the event. The basic SI units
for time is seconds (s)

Mass

Mass defines the property of a body to resist motion or to resist change to its
motion. The SI unit for mass is kilogram (kg).

The mass of a body is a constant quantity, which does not change; while the
weight of a body is defined as the gravitational force exerted on it by the
earth. Weight is a force (which will be defined later) and can vary form
location to location.

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SI Units

The International System of Units, System Internationale (SI), has three basic
mechanical units:
Length in metres (m)
Time in second (s)
Mass in kilograms (kg).

Other basic units include: temperature in Kelvin (K) and electric current in
ampere (A). All other mechanical and thermal quantities can be expressed in
terms of these basic units.

Non Basic Unit Prefix

Quantity SI Unit Acceptable NON-SI Units
Mass Kg Tonne(t) = 103 kg or 1 Mg
Time s Day, Hour(h); minute (min)
Area m2 Area(a) = 102 m2
Volume m3 Litre (l) = 10-3 m3
Density Kg/m3 t/m3 = kg/l
Pressure, Pa Pascal (pa) 1pa = 1 N/m2
Stress N/m2 Bar (bar) = 105 N/m2
Velocity m/s Km/h = (1/3.60 m/s
Energy J kWh = 3.6 MJ

SI Units Prefix

Prefix Symbol Multiplier Prefix Symbol Multiplier

deci d 10-1 deca da 101
centi c 10-2 hecto h 102
mili m 10-3 kilo k 103
micro 10-6 Mega M 106
nano 10-9 Giga G 109
pico p 10-12 Tera T 1012

Scalars and Vectors

If a particle moves from point A to point B, we can represent its movement

with line AB; the length of the line would reflect the distance travelled by the
particle. The direction of the movement can be shown by using an arrowhead
at point B.

If the particle then travelled from point B to point C; line BC and an

arrowhead at point C can represent the distance and the direction of travel.

The net effect is the same as if the particle has moved from point A to Point C,
and the resultant displacement can be presented by line AC and an arrowhead
at C.

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The resultant displacement, or the net distance travelled from A to C, is not
the simple arithmetic addition of the distances AB and BC.

C
300 mm
500 mm B

400 mm
A

Resultant displacement is 500

Particle
mm
P
Similarly, if two forces P and Q are acting on an object, the forces can be
replaced by a single force R that has the same effect on the object. This force
is called the resultant force and once again the forces do not obey the rules of
addition; i.e. force R does not equal the arithmetic sum of P and Q.

Resultant Force

P R

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Vectors

Quantities like displacements and forces cannot be defined by a value

(magnitude) alone, they need to be defined by magnitude and direction; they
are called vectors.

Vectors cannot be added arithmetically; they are added graphically or

analytically.

Scalars

These are quantities that can be completely specified by a number and do not
have a direction. Some physical quantities that are scalars include: mass,
volume, temperature and time. Scalers obey the normal arithmetic rules of
addition and substraction.

Addition of Vectors

There are two ways to add vectors: the graphical method and the analytical
method.

Using the graphical method, the vectors are presented on a diagram by using
arrows. The length of the arrow is made proportional to the magnitude of the
vector; and the direction of the arrow is the direction of the vector. The
resultant vector can then be scaled off the diagram using:
the parallelogram method as per the example shown in
the figure as above
the triangle rule as per the example shown in Displacements

The graphical method is limited in its use; it is also not practical for vectors in
three dimensions.

The analytical solution is based on the trigonometric functions. The vectors

are drawn (not to scale) in tip to tail fashion as per the triangle rule. The sine
and cosine rule are then used to calculate the resultant vector and its direction.

Trigonometric Equations

C
a
b

B A
c

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 a b c b2 + c2 - a2
= = cos A =
sin A sin B sin C
2 b.c

Resolving a vector into components

As previously explained, two or more forces (for example) acting on a particle

can be replaced by a single force (resultant) which has the same effect on the
particle. Equally, a single force acting on a particle can be replaced by two or
more forces that together have the same effect on the particle. This process is
called resolving the vector into components.

In many engineering applications, it is desirable to resolve the vector into two

components, which are perpendicular to each other. The two components,
called rectangular components, are usually selected horizontal and vertical,
however they can be chosen in any two perpendicular directions.

Resolution of a Vector into Rectangular Components.

Y
Fx
X
Fy F
Fy
F
Fx X
Y
The Vector F has been resolved into two components
Fx along the x-axis and Fy along the y-axis.

The angle is the angle between F and the x-axis measured

counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis

Fx = F.cos Fy = F.sin . tan = Fy / Fx

F = (Fx2 + Fy 2)

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 Tutorial
Section 1 Introduction to Applied
Mechanics

Question 1.1
Indicate which of the following is a scalar and which is a vector:
Area
Velocity
Acceleration
Speed
Heat
Density
Magnetic field

Question 1.2
List the basic SI mechanical units

Question 1.3
Name four prefixes.

Question 1.4
A scalar quantity is that quantity which can be expressed completely by
a magnitude in appropriate units and can be added algebraically.

Are the following scalar quantities?

Circle correct answer:

Circle Yes or No
10 kg Yes/No
1 litre Yes/No
3 seconds Yes/No
2N at 450 Yes/No

Question 1.5
Vector quantities possess both magnitude and direction.

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 Are the following vector quantities?

Circle the correct answer:

Circle Yes or No
100 N acting vertically upwards Yes/No
metres per second west Yes/No
7 metres squared Yes/No
5 metres south Yes/No

Question 1.6
Add the following Vectors.

a. 10 N !5 N

1000m
b. 1000m

433m 250m
c.

Question 1.7
Convert the following masses to Forces and forces to masses.
Assume gravity = 10m/sec2
Circle the correct answer:

25 kg N
83kg N
1 tonne N
725N kg
1 234N kg

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Suggested Answers to Written Assessment
Questions

Question 1.4: Yes

Yes
Yes
No

Question 1.5: Yes

Yes
No
Yes

Question 1.6: a. 5N

450
b.
Answer: 1414M

300
c.

Answer: 500m

Question 1.7: 250N

830N
10000N
72.5kg
123.4kg

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