Department of Technical Mechatronics

Subject: Engineering Mechanics

First Stage
Lecturer: M.SC Alaq F. Hasan
Year: 2022-2023
Lecture One
 Lecture Outline:

• 1.1 What is Mechanics?

• 1.2 Basic Concepts
• 1.3 Forces
• 1.4 Newton ’s Laws
• 1.5 System of Units
• 1.6 Scalars and Vectors
• 1.7 Vector operations
1.1 What is Mechanics?
Mechanics is the science which studies forces and their effects on an object, such as effects can be reactions, internal forces,
stresses and strains, or deformations, displacements, velocities or accelerations.
Mechanics can be divided into three categories: Rigid body mechanics, Deformable body mechanics, and Fluid mechanics. In
this semester we will study rigid body mechanics since it is a basic requirement for the study of the mechanics of deformable
bodies and the mechanics of fluids.
Rigid Body 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.
Rigid-body mechanics is divided into two areas: Statics and Dynamics. The branch of science, which deals with the study of a
body when the body is at rest, is known as Statics while the branch of science which deals with the study of a body when the
body is in motion, is known as Dynamics. Dynamics is further divided into Kinematics and Kinetics. The study of a body in
motion, when the forces which cause the motion are not considered, is called kinematics and if the forces are also considered
for the body in motion, that branch of science is called kinetics.
 Statics

Rigid body mechanics Kinematics

Dynamics

Mechanics Deformable body mechanics Kinetics

Fluid mechanics
1.2 Basic Concepts
Before we begin our study of engineering mechanics, it is important to understand the meaning of certain fundamental
concepts and principles.

• Length: measures the distance between two points.

• Time: measures the interval between events.
• Mass: is a measure of a quantity of matter that is used to compare the action of one body with that of another.
• Weight: is the force acting on the object due to gravity.
• Particle: is a body of negligible dimensions. In the mathematical sense, a particle is a body whose dimensions are
considered to be near zero so that we may analyze it as a mass concentrated at a point.
• Space is the geometric region occupied by bodies whose positions are described by linear and angular measurements
relative to a coordinate system. For three-dimensional problems, three independent coordinates are needed. For two-
dimensional problems, only two coordinates are required.
1.3 Forces
A force is any interaction between an object and the rest of the world that tends to affect the state of motion of the object. The
strength of a force is related to the extent of its effect on the object. You cannot see forces, but if you’ve ever seen a car crash or
felt a rush of air escaping from a balloon, you have experienced the effects of forces.
1.3.1 Characteristics of a Force
In order to determine the effects of a force, acting on a body, we must know the following characteristics of a force :
1. Magnitude of the force (i.e., 100 N, 50 N, 20 kN, etc.)
2. The direction of the line, along which the force acts (i.e., along OX, OY, at 30° North of East etc.). It is also known as line of
action of the force.
3. Nature of the force (i.e., whether the force is push or pull). This is denoted by placing an arrow head on the line of action of
the force.
4. The point at which (or through which) the force acts on the body.
1.3.2 Types of Force
There are two types of forces based on their applications:
1. Contact Force
Forces that act on a body either directly or through a medium are called contact forces. Examples of contact forces are:
• Applied Force
An applied force is a force that is applied to an object by a person or another object. If a person is pushing a desk across the
room, then there is an applied force acting upon the object. The applied force is the force exerted on the desk by the person.
• Normal Contact Force
Whenever two solid objects are in contact with each other, each exerts on the other a force that is perpendicular to the two
contacting surfaces and is called a normal contact force.
• Tension Force
The tension force is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting
from opposite ends.
• Frictional Force
If you attempt to slide one solid object over another, the motion is resisted by interactions between the surfaces of the two
objects. This resistance is a friction force and is oriented parallel to the two contacting surfaces in a direction opposite the
direction of (pending) motion.
• Air Resistance Force
The air resistance is a special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air. The force of air
resistance is often observed to oppose the motion of an object.
• Spring Force
The spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon any object that is attached to it. An object that
compresses or stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force that restores the object to its rest or equilibrium position.
2. Non-Contact Force
Forces that act through spaces without making direct contact with the body are called non-contact forces. Example of non-contact
forces is Gravitational Force.

1.4 Newton ’s Laws

Engineering mechanics is formulated on the basis of Newton’s three laws of motion, the validity of which is based on
experimental observation. These laws apply to the motion of a particle as measured from a nonaccelerating reference frame.

• Newton's first law when the sum of the forces (the resultant force) acting on a particle is
zero, that particle will either be stationary or it 'll be moving on a straight line with a
constant velocity.
• Newton's second law states that the resultant force acting on the particle is equal to the rate of change of its linear
momentum.
In case where the mass is constant, this reduces to the force acting on the body being equal to its mass times the acceleration.

𝑑 𝑑
𝐹= 𝑣𝑚 =𝑚 𝑣 =𝑚𝑎
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

• Newton's third law is the action-reaction law, which states that if one body exerts a force on a second body. Then that
second body exerts a force on the first body, which is equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction (collinear)
Newton’s first law contains the principle of the equilibrium of forces, which is the main topic of concern in statics. This law is
actually a consequence of the second law, since there is no acceleration when the force is zero, and the particle either is at rest or
is moving with a constant velocity. The first law adds nothing new to the description of motion but is included here because it
was part of Newton’s classical statements. The third law is basic to our understanding of force. It states that forces always occur
in pairs of equal and opposite forces. Thus, the downward force exerted on the desk by the pencil is accompanied by an upward
force of equal magnitude exerted on the pencil by the desk. This principle holds for all forces, variable or constant, regardless of
their source, and holds at every instant of time during which the forces are applied.

Dynamics Statics
The study of objects in The study of objects in
accelerated motion equilibrium

Mechanics
❑ Newtonian mechanics has certain limitations:

• First limitation is it does not apply when the velocity of the particle approach the speed of light. In that case, the theory of
relativity applies
• Second limitation when the scale of the problem is on the atomic scale. In that case, quantum mechanics applies.

1.5 System of Units

Measurements of physical quantities are expressed in terms of units, which are standardized values. For example, the mass,
which is a physical quantity, can be expressed in units of kilogram. Without standardized units, it would be extremely difficult for
scientists to express and compare measured values in a meaningful way. Two major systems of units are used in the world:
International System of Units SI and English units (also known as the U.S. Customary Units FPS). In any system of units, the
units for some physical quantities must be defined through a measurement process. These are called the base quantities for that
system and their units are the system’s base units. All other physical quantities can then be expressed as algebraic combinations
of the base quantities. Each of these physical quantities is then known as a derived quantity and each unit is called a derived unit.
 TABLE 1.1: Systems of Units

Quantity International System of Units SI English Units (U.S. Customary Units FPS)
Unit Symbol Unit Symbol
Mass 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑘𝑔 Derived unit ሼ 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 -----
Base units ቐ 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
Length 𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑡
𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
Time 𝑠𝑒𝑐 Base units ቐ𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑
Force Derived unit ሼ 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑛 𝑁 𝑙𝑏

The choice of base quantities is somewhat arbitrary, as long as they are independent of each other and all other quantities can be
derived from them. To convert a quantity from one system of units to another, multiply by conversions factors in such a way that
you cancel the units you want to get rid of and introduce the units you want to end up with. Table 1.2 provides a set of direct
conversion factors between FPS and SI units for the basic quantities.
 TABLE 1.2 Conversion Factors

Quantity U.S. Customary Units (FPS) → International System of Units (SI)

Mass 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 = 14.59 𝑘𝑔

Length 𝑓𝑡 = 0.3048 𝑚
Force 𝑙𝑏 = 4.448 𝑁

Prefixes. When a numerical quantity is either very large or very small, the units used to define its size may be modified by
using a prefix. Some of the prefixes used in the SI system are shown in Table 1.3.

For example:

𝐹 = 4 000 000 𝑁 = 4 000 𝑘𝑁 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜 − 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛 = 4 𝑀𝑁 (𝑚𝑒𝑔𝑎 − 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛)

𝑙 = 0.005 𝑚 = 5 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖 − 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟)

 TABLE 1.3: SI System Prefixes

Factor Exponential Form Prefix SI Symbol

1 000 000 000 000 1012 tera T

1 000 000 000 109 giga G

1 000 000 106 mega M

1 000 103 kilo k
0. 001 10−3 milli m
0. 000 001 10−6 micro µ
0. 000 000 001 10−9 nano n
Example 1.1: Convert slug into kg.

1 𝑙𝑏 𝑙𝑏 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2 1𝑁 𝑁 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2
1 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 = =1 1 𝑘𝑔 = 𝑚 = 1
𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑡 ( 2) 𝑚
( 2) 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑠𝑒𝑐
1 𝑙𝑏 = 4.448 𝑁
ቊ
1 𝑓𝑡 = 0.3048 𝑚

𝑙𝑏 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2 4.448 𝑁 1 𝑓𝑡 𝑁 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2

1 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 = 1 * 0.3048 𝑚 = 14.5931 𝑚 ≈ 14.59 𝑘𝑔
𝑓𝑡 * 𝑙𝑏
𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔
Example 1.2: Convert the quantities 300 𝑙𝑏. 𝑠𝑒𝑐 and 52 to appropriate SI units.
𝑓𝑡 3

𝟏. 𝑙𝑏 = 4.448 𝑁
4.448 𝑁
300 𝑙𝑏. 𝑠𝑒𝑐 = 300 𝑙𝑏. 𝑠𝑒𝑐 * = 1334.5 𝑁. 𝑠𝑒𝑐 = 1.33 𝑘𝑁. 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑙𝑏

𝟐. 1 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 = 14.59 𝑘𝑔 and 1 𝑓𝑡 = 0.3048 𝑚

3
52 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 52 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 14.59 𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑡 𝑘𝑔 𝑀𝑔
= ∗ ∗ = 26.8 ∗ 103 = 26.8
𝑓𝑡 3 𝑓𝑡 3 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 0.3048 𝑚 𝑚3 𝑚3
1.6 Scalars and Vectors
All physical quantities in engineering mechanics are measured using either scalars or vectors.
A physical quantity which is completely described by a single real number and the appropriate unit is called a scalar. Physically,
it is something which has a magnitude, and is completely described by this magnitude. Examples are temperature, time, mass,
length and volume. Scalar quantities that have the same physical units can be added or subtracted according to the usual rules of
algebra for numbers.
Vector quantities are extremely useful in physics. The important characteristic of a vector quantity is that it has both a magnitude
(or size) and a direction. Both of these properties must be given in order to specify a vector completely. Examples are force,
velocity, displacement and acceleration. We can represent vectors as geometric objects using arrows. The length of the arrow
corresponds to the magnitude of the vector. The arrow points in the direction of the vector.
1.7 Vector operations

o Multiplication and Division of a Vector by a Scalar.

If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its magnitude is increased by that amount. Multiplying by a negative scalar will also
change the directional sense of the vector.
o Vector Addition

When adding two vectors together it is important to account for both their magnitudes and their directions. To do this we must
use the parallelogram law of addition. The law of parallelogram of forces is used to determine the resultant* of two forces acting
at a point in a plane. It states, “If two forces, acting at a point be represented in magnitude and direction by the two adjacent sides
of a parallelogram, then their resultant is represented in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram passing
through that point.”
Let two forces 𝑃Ԧ and 𝑄 act at a point O as shown in figure. The force 𝑃Ԧ is represented in magnitude and direction by OA whereas

the force 𝑄 is presented in magnitude and direction by OB. Let the angle between the two forces be ‘𝛼’. The resultant of these
two forces will be obtained in magnitude and direction by the diagonal (passing through O) of the parallelogram of which OA and
OB are two adjacent sides. Hence draw the parallelogram with OA and OB as adjacent sides as shown in the figure. The resultant
𝑅 is represented by OC in magnitude and direction.
Redraw a half portion of the parallelogram to illustrate the triangular head-to-tail addition of the components. From this triangle,
the magnitude of the resultant vector can be determined using the law of cosines, and its direction is determined from the law of
sines. The magnitudes of two vectors components are determined from the law of sines.

Cosine law: 𝑅= 𝑃2 + 𝑄 2 − 2 ∗ 𝑃 ∗ 𝑄 ∗ cos 𝛼

Sine law: sin 𝜃 sin(𝛼 − 𝜃) sin(180 − 𝛼)

= =
𝑄 𝑃 𝑅
Example 1.3: Combine the two forces 𝑃Ԧ and 𝑇, which act on the fixed structure at B, into a single equivalent force 𝑅.

Solution .

𝐵𝐷 6 sin 60°
𝛼 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 = 40.9°
𝐴𝐷 3 + 6 cos 60°

𝑅= 𝑃2 + 𝑇 2 − 2 ∗ 𝑃 ∗ 𝑇 ∗ cos 𝛼 = 8002 + 6002 − 2 ∗ 800 ∗ 600 ∗ cos 40.9°

𝑅 = 524 𝑙𝑏

𝑇 𝑅 600 𝑙𝑏 524 𝑙𝑏
= → =
sin 𝜃 sin 𝛼 sin 𝜃 sin 40.9°

sin 𝜃 = 0.750 → 𝜃 = 48.6°

o Vector Subtraction

The resultant of the difference between two vectors 𝐴Ԧ and 𝐵 of the same type may be expressed as

𝑅 ′ = 𝐴Ԧ − 𝐵 = 𝐴Ԧ + (−𝐵)
Subtraction is defined as a special case of addition, so the rules of vector addition also apply to vector subtraction.
 References

• J.L. MERIAM, L.G. KRAIGE and J. N . BOLTON, ENGINEERING MECHANICS STATICS, EIGHTH
EDITION

• R. C. HiBBELER, ENGINEERING MECHANICS STATICS, FOURTEENTH EDITION