Chapter 1 -

General Principles

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 Objectives
1. To provide an introduction to the basic
quantities and idealizations of
mechanics.
2. To give a statement of Newton’s laws
of Motion and Gravitation.
3. To review the principles for applying
the SI system of units.
4. To examine the standard procedures
for performing numerical calculations.
5. To present a general guide for problem
solving.
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 Definition
Mechanics:
Branch of physical sciences
concerned with the state of
rest or motion of bodies
subjected to forces.

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 Engineering Mechanics

Solid Mechanics Fluid Mechanics

Rigid Bodies Deformable Bodies

Statics Dynamics
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 Rigid Body Mechanics

Statics – Bodies at rest

Dynamics – Accelerated
motion of bodies

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 Historical Development
Statics
◼ Depends on geometry and forces
◼ Simple machines

levers
pulleys
inclined plane
◼ Archimedes (287-212 B.C.)

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 Historical Development
Dynamics
◼ Accurate Measurement of time
◼ Galileo (1564-1642)

◼ Newton(1642-1727)

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 Basic Quantities
Length Mass
◼ meter ◼ kilogram
◼ foot ◼ slug
Time Force
◼ second ◼ newton
◼ pound

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 Length

Needed to locate the position of a

point in space and describe the size
of a physical system.

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 Time

Conceived as a succession of
events. Concepts of STATICS are
time independent.

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 Mass
A property of matter by which we can
compare the action of one body to
another. This property manifests itself
as a gravitational attraction between
two bodies and provide a qualitative
measure of the resistance of matter to
a change in velocity.

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 Force
Generally considered as a push of a
pull exerted by one body on another.
Interaction occurs when there is direct
contact between the bodies.
Gravitational, electrical and magnetic
forces do not require direct contact.
Force is characterized by magnitude,
direction and point of application.
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 Idealizations
1. Particle - an object having mass but
the size is neglected.
2. Rigid Body - a combination of a large
number of particles which remain in a
fixed position relative to each other,
both before and after the application
of a force.

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 Newton’s Three Laws of
Motion
First Law: A particle originally at rest, or
moving in a straight line with constant
velocity, will remain in this state provided
the particle is not subjected to unbalanced
forces.

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 Newton’s Three Laws of
Motion
Second Law: A particle acted upon by an
unbalanced force F experiences an acceleration
a that has the same direction as the force and a
magnitude that is directly proportional to the
force. If F is applied to a particle of mass m
then: F = ma.

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 Newton’s Three Laws of
Motion
Third Law: The mutual forces of action
and reaction between two particles are
equal, opposite and collinear.

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Newton’s Laws of Gravitational
Attraction
m1m 2 Where:
F=G 2 F = force of gravitation
r G = universal constant of
gravitation
m1,m2= mass of two
particles
r = distance between two
particles

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 Weight
m1m2
W=G 2 m = mass of object
r m2 = mass of earth
 r = distance from
center of earth to
mm2 particle
W=G 2
r

m2
W = mG 2
r
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 Units
1. Basic quantities (force, mass, length,
time) are related by Newton’s second
law.
2. Units used to measure quantities are
not all independent.
3. Three of four units, called base units,
are arbitrarily defined and the fourth is
derived.

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 SI Units
1. Modern version of metric system.
2. Base units are length, time and mass,
meter (m), second (s), and kilogram (kg)
3. Acceleration of gravity:
m
g = 9.81 2
s

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 SI Units
4. Force is derived quantity measured in unit
called a newton

kg  m
1N =1 2
s

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 U.S. Customary Units (fps)

1. Base units are length, time and force.

2. feet (ft), second (s), and pound (lb)
3. Acceleration of gravity:

g = 32.2 ft 2
s

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 U.S. Customary Units (fps)
4. Mass is derived quantity measured in
a unit called a slug:

lb  s 2
1 slug = 1
ft

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 Systems of Units
Name Length Time Mass Force

SI meter second kilogra newton

(m) (s) m (N)
(kg)
US foot second slug pound
Customary (ft) (s) (lb s2/ft (lb

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 Unit Conversions
Unit Conversions

Force : 1 lb = 4.4482 N
Mass : 1 slug = 14.5938 kg
Length : 1 ft = 0.3048 m

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 Prefixes for SI units
Exponential form Prefix SI
symbol
Multiple
1,000,000,000 109 giga G
1,000,000 106 mega M
1,000 103 kilo k
Submultiple
0.001 10-3 milli m
0.000001 10-6 micro 
0.00000001 10-9 nano n

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 Concepts to Study
1. Dimensional Homogeneity
2. Significant Figures
3. Rounding Off Numbers
4. Calculations

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 Dimensional Homogeneity
Each of the terms of an equation must be
expressed in the same units.
s = v t + 1/2 a t2
s is position in meters
v is velocity in m/s
a is acceleration in m/s2
t is time in seconds
m = m/s • s + m/s2 • s2 = m

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 Significant Figures
1. Accuracy specified by number of
significant figures.
2. Defined as any digit including a zero
(provided it is not used to specify the
location of a decimal point).
3. 5604 and 34.52 both have four
significant figures

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 Engineering Notation
1. Does 40 have one or two significant
figures?
2. Engineering notation uses powers of
ten with exponents in multiples of
three.
3. 40 written as 0.04 (103) is forty to
one significant figure and 0.040 (103)
is forty to two significant figures.

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 Calculations
When performing calculations
retain a greater number of
digits than the problem data.
Engineers usually round off
final answer to three
significant figures. Intermediate
calculations are usually done to
four significant figures.
Answer can never have more
significant figures than given
data!

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 Convert 2 km/h to m/s. How many ft/s
km  1000 m   1 h 
=2
2 km is this?     
h
SOLUTION: h  km  3600 s 
Since 1 km = 1000 m and 1 h = 3600 s, the conversion
factors2000 m
are arranged so that a cancellation of units can
=
2 km be applied. = 0.5555 = 0.556 m
h 3600 s s

m m 1 ft  ft ft
0.556 = 0.556   = 1.824 = 1.82
s s  0.3048 m  s s
Recall that 1 ft = 0.3038 m

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 Procedure for Analysis
1. Read the problem carefully and
correlate the actual physical situation
with the theory studied.
2. Draw necessary diagrams and tables.
3. Apply relevant principles, generally in
mathematical form.

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 Procedure for Analysis
4. Solve the equations algebraically (without
numbers) as far as possible, then obtain a
numerical answer.
5. Be sure to use a consistent set of units.
6. Report the answer with no more significant
figures than the accuracy of the given data.
7. Decide if answer seems reasonable.
8. Think about what the problem taught you!

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 Important Points
1. Statics is the study of bodies at rest or
moving with constant velocity.
2. A particle has mass but a size that can
be neglected.
3. A rigid body does not deform under
load.
4. Concentrated forces are assumed to
act at a point on a body.

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 Important Points
1. Newton’s three laws of motion must be
memorized!
2. Mass is a property of matter that does
not change from one location to
another.
3. Weight is the gravitational attraction of
the earth on a body or quantity of
mass. Its magnitude depends on the
location of the mass.

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 Important Points
1. In the SI system the unit of force is the
newton. It is a derived quantity. Mass, length
and time are the base quantities.
2. In the SI system prefixes are used to denote
large or small numerical quantities of a unit.
3. Perform numerical calculation to several
significant figures and report answers to three
significant figures.
4. Be sure that all equations are dimensionally
homogeneous.

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 Objectives - Review
1. To provide an introduction to the basic
quantities and idealizations of mechanics.
2. To give a statement of Newton’s laws of
Motion and Gravitation.
3. To review the principles for applying the SI
system of units.
4. To examine the standard procedures for
performing numerical calculations.
5. To present a general guide for problem
solving.

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