CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO STATIC

OBJECTIVES:
This chapter focussed the units of measurement. The knowledge of
mathematics is very important in solving the given problems. The
main interest is to provide the full understanding about the unit
conversions.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

 Mechanics can be defined as that branch of the physical sciences concern

with the state of rest or motion of bodies that are subjected to the action of
forces.

 Basic mechanic is composed of two principal areas:

 Static
 Dynamic

 Static
 it is the study of forces on and in structures that are at rest or
moving at a uniform velocity
 A motionless body may have several forces acting on it
 Exp: gravitational force and a force opposing that gravity.
 Such a body therefore static has forces in balance or equilibrium.
 Static is the analyzing and determining of such forces.

 Dynamic
 Is the next logical step in the study forces, since it is concern with
dynamic equilibrium, or the forces acting on a moving body.

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1.2 FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT

1.2.1 Basic terms

 Length

 needed 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

quantitatively define distances and geometric properties of a body
as multiples of the unit length.

 Space

 the geometry region occupied by bodies whose positions are

described by linear and angular measurement relative to a
coordinate system.

 for three-dimensional problems three independent coordinates are

needed.

 for two-dimensional problems only two coordinates will required.

 Time

 the measure of the succession of event and is a basic quantity in

dynamics for three-dimensional problems three independent
coordinates are needed.

 not directly involved in the analysis of static problems

 Mass

 a measure of the inertia of a body, which is its resistance to a

change of velocity.

 can be regarded as the quantity of matter in a body.

 the property of every body by which it experiences mutual

attraction to other bodies.

 Force

 the action of one body on another.

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  tends to move a body in the direction of its action.

 the action of a force is characterized by its magnitude, by the

direction of its action, and by its points of application.

 Particle

 has a mass, but a size can be neglected.

 Example: the size of the earth is significant compared to the size of

its orbit, therefore the earth can be modelled as a particle when
studying its orbital motion.

 Rigid Body

 It can be considered as a combination of a large number of particles

in which all the particles remain at a fixed distance from one
another both before and after applying a load.

 As the result, the material properties of any that is assumed to be

rigid will not have to considered when analyzing the forces acting
on the body.

 in most cases the actual deformation occurring in structures,

machines, mechanisms, and the like are relatively small, and the
rigid-body assumption is suitable for analysis.

1.2.2 Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

 First Law

 A particle originally located at rest, or moving in a straight line

with constant velocity, will remain in this state. The particle must
not subjected to an unbalanced force.

F1 F2

F3

Figure 1.1: Equilibrium

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  Second Law

 A particle acted upon by an unbalanced force, F experiences

acceleration, a has the same direction as the force and magnitude is
directly proportional to the force.

 If F is applied to a particle of mass,m , this law may be expressed

mathematically as

F  ma …….Equation 1.1

F a

Figure 1.2: Accelerated motion

 Third Law

 The mutual forces of action and reaction between two particles are
equal, opposite, and collinear.

force of A on B

F R

force of B on A

Figure 1.3: Action - Reaction

1.2.3 Newton’s Law of Gravitational Attraction

 After formulating these three laws of motion, Newton postulated a

law governing the gravitational attraction between any two
particles.

 Stated mathematically,

m1 m2
F G
r2 .…. Equation 1.2

where;
F = force of gravitation between the two particles

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 G = universal constant of gravitation; according to
experimental evidence, G  66.73(10 12 )m 3 /(kg.s 2 )

m2, m2 = mass of each of the two particle

r = distance between the two particles

1.2.4 Weight

 According to Equation 1.2, any two particles or bodies have mutual

attractive (gravitational) force acting between them.

 In the case of a particle located at or near the surface of the earth,

the only gravitational force having any sizeable magnitude between
the earth and particle.

 Equation 1.2 develop an approximate expression for finding the

weight, W of a particle having a mass m1 = m.

 Assume the earth to be a non-rotating sphere of constant density

and having a mass m2 = Me, then if r is the distance between the
earth’s center and the particle, we have

m1 M e .…. Equation 1.3

W G
r2

G Me
Letting, g  yields
r2

g = 9.807 m/s2

so,

W  mg .…. Equation 1.4

 By comparison with F = ma, we term g the acceleration due to

gravity. Since it depends on r, it can be seen that weight of a body
is not an absolute quantity. Instead, its magnitude is determined
from where the measurement was made.

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1.3 UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

 Mechanics deal with four fundamental quantities

~ Length
~ Mass
~ Force
~ Time

 The units used to measure these quantities cannot all be chosen

independently because they must be consistent with Newton’s
second law, Equation 1.1.

 The four fundamental quantities and their units and symbols in the
two systems (SI Unit and U.S Customary Units) are summarized in
Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Units and Symbol in Two System

SI Units U.S Customary Units

Quantity Dimensional Unit Symbol Unit Symbol
Symbol
Mass M kilogram kg slug -
Length L meter m foot ft
Time T second s second sec
Force F newton N pound lb

1.3.1 SI Units

 The International System of units, abbreviated SI (from the French,

Système International d’Unitès), has been accepted in the United
States and throughout the world and is a modern version of the
metric system.

 As shown in Table 1.1, SI units of mass is in kilograms (kg), length

in meters (m), and time in seconds (s) are selected as the base units,
and force in newtons (N) is derived from F = ma

 Thus, force (N) = mass (kg) x acceleration (m/s2) or

m
N  kg 
s2

 Therefore, 1 newton is force required to give a mass of 1 kg an

acceleration of 1 m/s2.

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 1 kg

9.81 N

 If the weight of a body located at the “standard location” is to be

determined in Newtons, then Eq. 1.4 must be applied. Here g =
9.80665 m/s2; however, for calculation, the value g = 9.81 m/s2 will
be used.

 Thus,

W  mg (g = 9.81 m/s2) .…. Equation 1.5

Therefore, a body of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.81 N, a 2 kg

weighs 19.62 N.

1.3.2 U.S Customary

 In the U.S Customary system of units (FPS) length is measured in

feet (ft), force in pounds (lb), and time in seconds (sec).

 The unit of mass, called a slug, is derived from F = ma.

 Thus, force (lb) = mass (slugs) x acceleration (ft/sec2) or

lb  ft
slug 
sec2

 Hence, 1 slug is equal to the amount of matter accelerated at 1 ft/s2

when acted upon by a force of 1 lb.

1 slug

32.2 lb

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  In order to determine the mass of a body having a weight measured
in pounds, we must apply Equation 1.4. If the measurement are
made at the “standard location”, then g = 32.2 ft/s2 will be used for
calculation.

 Therefore,

W
m (g = 32.2 ft/sec2) .…. Equation 1.6
g

 A body weighing 32.2 lb has a mass of 1 slug, a 64.4 lb has a mass

of 2 slug.

1.3.3 Conversion of Units

 Table 1.2 provides a set of direct conversion factors between FPS

and SI units for the basic quantities. There other units conversion
can be referred to your scientific calculator.

 In the FPS system, recall that 1 ft = 12 in. (inches), 5280 ft = 1 mi

(mile), 1000 lb = 1 kip (kilo-pound), and 2000 lb = 1 ton.

Table 1.2 Conversion Factors

Unit of Unit of
Quantity Measurement Measurement
(FPS) (FPS)
Force lb 4.4482 N
Mass Slug Equals 14.593 kg
Length ft 0.3048 m

EXAMPLE 1.1

Convert 2 km/h to m/s and ft/s.

Solution

Since 1 km = 1000 m and 1 h = 3600 s, the factors of conversion are arranged in

the following order, so that a cancellation of the units can be applied:

km 2 km  1000 m  1 h 
2    
h h  km  3600 s 

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 2000 m

3600 s

m 3.281 ft
 0.556 x  1.824 ft / s
s m

EXAMPLE 1.2

Convert the quantities 300 lb.s and 52 slug/ft3 to appropriate SI units.

Solution

Using Table 1.2, 1 lb = 4.4482 N

 4.4482 N 
300 lb  s  300 lb  s 
 lb 
 1334.5 N  s

 1.33 kN  s

Also, 1 slug = 14.5938 kg and 1 ft = 0.348 m.

52 slug  14.5938 kg  1 ft 
3

52 slug/ft 3
  
ft 3  1 slug  0.348 m 
 26.8(10 3 ) kg/m 3
 26.8 Mg/m3

EXAMPLE 1.3

Evaluate each of the following problems and express with SI units having an
appropriate prefix:
(a) (50 mN)(6GN)
(b) (400mm)(0.6MN)2
(c) 45MN3/900Gg

Solution :
First convert each number to base units, perform the indicates operations, then
choose an appropriate prefix.
Part (a)
(50mN)(6 GN) = [50(10-3)N][6(109)N]
= 300 (106)N2
= 300(106)N2
= 300(kN)2

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Note carefully the convention kN2 =(kN)2 = 106N2

Part (b)
(400mm)(0.6MN)2 = [400(10-3)m][0.6(106)N]2
= [400(10-3)m][0.36(1012)N2]
= 144(109)m.N2
= 144 Gm.N2
We can also write
 1MN  1MN 
144(109)m.N2 = 144(109)m.N2  6  6 
 10 N  10 N 
= 0.144m.MN2

Part (c)
45(106 N ) 3
45MN3/900Gg =
900(106 )kg
= 0.05(1012)N3/kg
3
 1kN  1
= 0.05(1012)N3  6 
 10 N  kg
3 3
= 0.05(10 )kN /kg
= 50kN3/kg

EXERCISE 1.1

Change the units and show the calculation.

i) 55 N/m2 to kN/mm2

ii) 25 kg/cm2 to lb/m2

iii) 150 N/m2 to Pa

iv) 37 m/h2 to ft/s2

1.4 MATHEMATIC REQUIRED

 Algebraic equations with one unknown

 Simultaneous equations with two unknowns
 Quadratic equations
 Trigonometry functions of a right – angle triangle
 Sine law and cosine law as applied to non-right angle triangles.
 Geometry

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a) Algebraic equations with one unknown

EXAMPLE 1.4

Solve for x in the equation.

3(6  x )
4  16
2
x?

b) Simultaneous equations with two unknowns

EXAMPLE 1.5

Solve the simultaneous equations.

3x  4 y  8
6 x  2 y  10
x?
y?

c) Quadratic equations

EXAMPLE 1.6

Solve for x in equation

3x ( 4  2 x )  10  x 2  8

 b  b 2  4ac
use x 
2a

d) Trigonometry functions of a right – angle triangle 

Trigonometry is the study of the relationship among the sides and
interior angles of triangles.

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 y side opposite
Sin   
r hypotenuse

r x side adjacent
cos   
y r hypotenuse

 y side opposite
tan   
x side adjacent
x

e) Sine law or cosine law as applied to non-right angle triangles.

Triangles that are not right – angle triangles

A 
C
A B C
 
sin sin  sin 
 

B
Side divided by the sine of the angle opposite the side

C  C 2  A2  B 2  2 AB cos

  B

Right – angle triangle where = 90o

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 C  C 2  A2  B2

  B
A

HOMEWORK

Derive the equation of sine law and cosine

law

f) Geometry
Some basic rules of geometry are as follows.
i) opposite angles are equal when two straight lines intersect

a
d a=b
c c=d
b

ii) supplementary angles total 1800

a
a + b = 1800
b

iii) complementary angles total 900

a
a + b = 900
b

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iv) a straight line intersection two parallel lines produces the following
equal angles:

a=b
a c=d
c
b or
d a=b=c=d

iv) the sum of the interior angles of any triangles equals to 180o

a a + b + c = 1800

b
c

v) similar triangles have the same shape

D


A BD DE BE
 
 BA AC BC

B
C E

If AB = 4, AC = 6 and DB = 10, then by proportion

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DE   10  15
4

vi) circle equations:

circumference  D or 2r
D2
Area  or r 2
4

Angle  is defined as one radian when a length of 1 radius is

measured on the circumference.

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 TUTORIAL 1

1) Figure Q1 shows two triangles of ABC and DBE. Given the length of AB
= 5cm, AC = 10cm and DB = 8cm. Find the length of DE.

Figure Q1

2) Change the unit.

i) 20GPa to N/mm2
ii) 15 μm/s2 to mm/h2
iii) 90 N to kg. m/s2
iv) 200 hp to kW
v) 50 lb/ft2 to Pa
vi) 45 gal(US) to liter

3) Fill the table.

NAME SYMBOL MULTIPLY BY

kilo k 103
(i) M 106
giga (ii) 109
tera T (iii)

mili m 10-3
(iv) μ (v)
nano n 103

4) In triangle ∆ABC, A = 59°, B = 39° and a = 6.73cm.

Find angle C, sides b and c.

5) In triangle ∆ABC, A =100°, b = 5cm and a = 7.7cm. Find the unknown

angles and side.

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