Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Definitions:
 Mechanics: It is the study of effect of forces acting on the body at rest or in motion.
 Applied mechanics: When this study of mechanics is applied to engineering problems it is
called as applied mechanics.
 Statics is the study of effect of forces acting on the body at rest.
 Dynamics is the study of effect of forces acting on the body in motion.
 Kinetics is the study of effect of forces acting on the body in motion with consideration of
forces causing motion.
 Kinematics is the study of effect of forces acting on the body in motion without
consideration of forces causing motion.
 Space is the area which surrounds the planet Earth and the other planets and stars.
 Time is the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition
exists or continues.
 Mass is the amount of matter present in the body. It‟s denoted by “m” and measured (unit)
in kg.
 Weight is the Gravitational force with which the Earth attracts the masses towards its
center. It‟s denoted by “W” and measured (unit) in N.
Weight = mass × gravity. The formula for this is: w = mg.

*Difference between mass and weight:

Mass Weight
1. Is the measure of inertia 1. Is the measure of force
2. It‟s magnitude is same everywhere 2. It‟s magnitude vary with respect to location
3. It is denoted by „m‟ 3. It is denoted by „W‟
4. Unit is „kg‟ 4. Unit is „N‟
5. Formula: m= W/g 5. Formula: W= mg

 Particle is one of the very small parts of matter.

 Body is the composition of number of particles to become a matter.

*Types of bodies:
A. Rigid body: The body which does not changes its dimensions when force is applied on it.
B. Deformable body: The body which changes its dimensions when force is applied on it.
B1. Elastic body: The body which gains original dimensions when force is removed.
B2. Plastic body: The body which does not gains original dimensions when force is removed.
* Difference between particle and body:
Particle Body
1. Particle is one of the very small 1. Body is the composition of number of
parts of matter. particles to become a matter.
2. It‟s mass or weight is negligible 2. It‟s mass or weight is considerable

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

3. It occupies point in a space 3. It occupies volume in a space

4. It does not have size and shape 4. It has definite size and shape

1.3 Scalar Quantity:

A physical quantity having only magnitude but no direction is called as scalar quantity.
Eg. Temperature, mass, energy, distance, speed, density etc.
It is one dimensional.
This quantity changes with change in magnitude only.
Vector Quantity:
A physical quantity having both magnitude as well as direction is called as vector quantity.
Eg. Force, displacement, velocity, acceleration, momentum etc.
It is multi-dimensional.
This quantity changes with change in magnitude and direction.

Units of measurements:
The units which are independent of each other are known as Fundamental Units.
For example, meter is a fundamental unit of length and second is a fundamental unit of time.
Derived Units are derived from Fundamental Units.
meter per second (ms-1) is a derived unit of velocity. Other derived units power, energy, force and
density.
SI(System International) units The SI comprises a intelligible system of units of measurement
starting with seven base units, which are
 Length - meter (m)
 Time - second (s)
 Amount of substance - mole (mole)
 Electric current - ampere (A)
 Temperature - kelvin (K)
 Luminous intensity - candela (cd)
 Mass - kilogram (kg)
1.4 Force:
Force: It is an external agency either push or pull which changes the state of rest or of uniform
motion of a body, upon which it acts.
SI Unit of force is „N‟.

Characteristics of force:
i) Magnitude: The quantity of force. e.g. 10 N, 100 kN etc.
ii) Direction: It is the line along which the force acts. It is also called as line of action of the force.
iii) Point of application: The point at which the force acts on the body.
iv) Sense or Nature: Either Pull or push.
 Pull: If the arrow head is pointed away from the point of application, the nature of the force is
pull.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

 Push: If the arrow head is pointed towards the point of application, the nature of the force is
push.

Effects of force:
i) It may change the state of a body i.e. the state of rest or state of motion.
ii) It may accelerate or retard the motion of a body.
iii) It may turn or rotate the body on which it acts.
iv) It may deform the body on which it acts.

Principle of transmissibility of force:

Principle of transmissibility of force states that, “if a force acts at a point on a rigid body, it is
assumed to act at any other point on the line of action of force within the same body”.
As per this principle force of push nature can be made pull by extending the line of a force in
opposite quadrant.

*Force system and its classification:

When two or more forces acting on a body, they are said to form a system of forces or force
system.
*Classification:
It is classified mainly into two types.
(1) Coplanar force system
(a) Collinear force system
(b) Concurrent force system
(c) Non-concurrent force system
(d) Parallel force system
(i) Like parallel
(ii) Unlike parallel
(2) Non-coplanar force system
(a) Concurrent force system
(b) Parallel force system
(c) Non-concurrent, non-parallel or general force system

1. Coplanar Collinear force system: The force system in which forces lies on the same plane and
act along the same line of action are known as Coplanar Collinear force system.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

2. Coplanar Concurrent force system: The force system in which forces lies on the same plane
and meet at a point are known as Coplanar Concurrent force system.

3. Coplanar Non-concurrent force system: The force system in which forces lies on the same
plane but meet at different points are known as Coplanar Concurrent force system.

4. Coplanar parallel force system:

(i) Like parallel force system: The force system in which forces lies on the same plane and are
parallel to each other acting in same direction are known as Coplanar Like parallel force system.

(ii) Unlike parallel force system: The force system in which forces lies on the same plane and are
parallel to each other but acting in opposite direction are known as Coplanar Unlike parallel force
system.

5. Non-coplanar concurrent force system: The force system in which forces lies in different
planes but meet at a point are known as Non-coplanar Concurrent force system.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

6. Non-coplanar parallel force system: The force system in which forces lies in different planes
but are parallel to each other are known as Non-coplanar parallel force system.

7. General force system: The force systems in which forces act in different planes and they do
not possess one single point of concurrency are known as General force system.

Moment and Couple:

1. A moment (also sometimes called a torque) is defined as the "tendency of a force to rotate a
body".
2. Where forces cause linear accelerations, moments cause angular accelerations.
Types: Clockwise moment (Positive) and Anticlockwise moment (Negative)
3. Couple is a moment produced because of two equal and opposite forces.
Types: Clockwise couple (Positive) and Anticlockwise couple (Negative)
4. Properties/Characteristics of couple:
i. The algebraic sum of the forces, consisting of couple, is zero i.e. resultant zero.
ii. The algebraic sum of the moment of the forces, constituting the couple, about any point is
the same, and equal to the moment of the couple itself.
iii. A couple cannot be balanced by a single force, but can be balanced only by a couple, but of
opposite sense.
iv. Any number of coplanar couples can be reduced to a single couple, whose magnitude will
be equal to the algebraic sum of the moments of all the couples.
v. Moment can produce only rotational effect and no translation.
vi. Magnitude of couple can be found by multiplication of magnitude of couple and distance
lever arm.
vii. Moment of couple is independent of the origin of the forces or reference point.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Resolution of forces:
1. Resolution of forces is a process of splitting the forces or dividing the forces into two or
more parts which ultimately creates the same effect on the body that the single force would
have created.
2. Resolution of forces helps us in analyzing motion separately in different directions.
3. It is very essential in some cases to analyze the effect of forces in different directions.
4. In all such cases, resolution of forces is required.
5. If a force „F‟ is resolved or replaced by two forces using the principle of resolution of
forces, it will together produce the same effect as that of force „F‟. These forces are known
as the components of the force „F‟.

Composition of forces:
1. The process of finding out the resultant force of a number of given forces is called the
composition/compounding of forces.
2. The composition of forces is the vector addition of all forces acting on an object.
3. To add vectors, each vector must be resolved into its x and y-components.
4. X-components can only be added to x-components, and y-components can only be added
to y-components.
5. Then resultant and its position can be found out.

Define resultant force.

Resultant force is defined as a single force which can produce the same effect as it is
produced by the number of forces acting together.

Triangle law of forces:

It states, “If two forces acting simultaneously on a particle, be represented in magnitude and
direction by the two sides of a triangle, taken in order; their resultant may be represented in
magnitude and direction by the third side of the triangle, taken in same order.”

Parallelogram law of forces:

Parallelogram law of forces states that “if two forces acting simultaneously at a point be
represented in magnitude and direction by two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, their resultant
may be represented in magnitude and direction by diagonal in same order.”

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Polygon law of forces:

It stats that, “ if any number of forces acting at a point can be represented in direction and
magnitude by the sides of a polygon taken in order, their resultant may be represented in
magnitude and direction by the closing side of the polygon, taken in the opposite order.”

Types of loads:
1. Point load or concentrated load
2. Uniformly distributed load
3. Uniformly varying load
1. Point load or concentrated load
I. Point load or concentrated load, as name suggest, acts at a point on the beam. If we
will see practically, point load or concentrated load also distributed over a small
area but we can consider such type of loading as point loading and hence such type
of load could be considered as point load or concentrated load.
II. Following figure displayed here indicates the beam AB of length L which will be
loaded with point load W at the midpoint of the beam. Load W will be considered
here as the point load.

2. Uniformly distributed load

I. Uniformly distributed load is the load which will be distributed over the length of the beam
in such a way that rate of loading will be uniform throughout the distribution length of the
beam.
II. Uniformly distributed load is also expressed as U.D.L and with value as w N/m. During
determination of the total load, total uniformly distributed load will be converted in to
point load by multiplying the rate of loading i.e. w (N/m) with the span of load distribution
i.e. L and will be acting over the midpoint of the length of the uniformly load distribution.

Let us consider the following figure, a beam AB of length L is loaded with uniformly distributed
load and rate of loading is w (N/m).

Total uniformly distributed load, P = w*L

3. Uniformly varying load

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

I. Uniformly varying load is the load which will be distributed over the length of the beam in
such a way that rate of loading will not be uniform but also vary from point to point
throughout the distribution length of the beam.
II. Uniformly varying load is also termed as triangular load. Let us see the following figure, a
beam AB of length L is loaded with uniformly varying load.

Total uniformly load, P = w*L/2

Types of beams:
1. Simply supported beam
2. Fixed beam
3. Cantilever beam
4. Continuous beam
5. Overhanging beam
1. Simply supported beam

It is a beam supported freely at the two ends on walls or columns. In actual practice, no beam rests
freely on the supports ( walls or columns ) without fixing on the supports.
The moment is not induced at the supports, since it allows rotation. Hence, no beam is practically
simply supported.

2. Fixed beam
In this beam, both the ends of the beam are rigidly fixed to the supports (walls or columns). Also,
main reinforcement bars and stirrups (in the form of rectangular rings) are provided.
Here, Bending is constrained at the supports. A moment is induced at the supports since it will not
allow rotation.

3. Cantilever beam
When a beam is fixed in a wall or column at one end and the other end is free, it‟s called a
cantilever beam. It has a tension zone on the top side and a compression zone on the bottom side.
Uses: It is used to support slabs projecting outside the wall/column.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

4. Continuous beam
A continuous beam is supported on more than two supports this beam is more economical for any
span length. This beam is commonly and most used compare to all types of beams.

5. Overhanging beam
In overhanging beam, its end extends beyond the wall or column support. Overhanging the beam
is the unsupported portion of the beam. It may be one side or both sides of the support.

State analytical conditions of equilibrium of force system.

1) Σ Fx = 0 i. e. Algebric sum of all the forces along X-axis must be equal to zero.
2) Σ Fy = 0 i. e. Algebric sum of all the forces along Y-axis must be equal to zero.
3) Σ M = 0 i. e. Algebric sum of all the moments of all the forces at any point equals to zero.

Define free body and free body diagram.

When the body is separated from its surrounding it is called as free body and
When all active and reactive forces acting on the free body are shown and thus the diagram
obtained is called as free body diagram.

State and explain Lami’s theorem.

Lami‟s theorem states that, if three forces acting at a point on a body keep it at rest, then each
force is proportional to the sin of the angle between the other two forces.

α+β+γ=360

β+γ=360-α

As per Lami‟s theorem,

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Proof:

F2

F1
F3

Remaining angle in above triangle = 180-(180-β)-(180-γ)

= 180-180+β-180+γ
= (β+γ)-180
= 360-α-180
= 180-α
By sine rule in above triangle,

Limitations of Lami’s theorem:

1. The theorem is applicable only if the body is in equilibrium.
2. The theorem is not applicable for parallel or non-concurrent force system.
3. The theorem is not applicable for more or less than three concurrent forces.
4. The theorem is not applicable for non-coplanar forces.

Types of supports:
 Roller supports.
 Pinned support.
 Fixed support.
 Simple support.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Types of truss:

Classification of Truss:

1. Perfect or stable truss: It is in equilibrium under loading having condition m=2j-3

2. Imperfect or unstable: It is not in equilibrium under loading having condition m≠2j-3
A. Deficient truss: It is having condition m<2j-3
B. Over stable/ Redundant Truss: It is having condition m>2j-3

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Friction:
1. Friction is the force that resists the sliding or rolling of one solid object over another.
2. Frictional forces, such as the traction needed to walk without slipping, may be beneficial, but
they also present a great measure of opposition to motion.

Types:
A) Static Friction: Static friction is the friction that exists between a stationary object and the
surface on which it's resting.
Eg. If you push on a stationary block and it doesn't move, it is being held by static friction which
is equal and opposite to your push.
B) Dynamic Friction: It is the friction related with motion or with simple term a body slides over
another body and experiences a opposing force know dynamic friction.
It's friction that slows or stops an object from moving.
Rolling friction is another type of dynamic friction.

State four laws (Coulomb’s laws) of static friction.

(1) The frictional force always acts tangential to the plane of contact and in the direction opposite
to the impending motion.
(2) When the body is in limiting equilibrium, the limiting friction bears a constant ratio to the
normal reaction. This ratio is called as “Coefficient of friction”.
(3) The coefficient of friction depends only upon the nature of surfaces in contact and is
independent of the surface area in contact.
(4) The static friction is more than dynamic friction.
(5) Force of friction is a self-adjusting force and it increases as the applied force increases up to
limiting friction.

DEFINITIONS:
Define angle of repose.
Angle of repose is defined as the angle made by the inclined plane with the horizontal plane at
which the body placed on an inclined plane is just on the point of moving down the plane, under
the action of its own weight.

Coefficient of friction: It is the ratio of limiting friction (F) to the normal reaction (R) at the
surface of contact.
F= µR
Limiting friction: It is described as the friction created when two static surfaces come into contact
with each other.
The limiting frictional force is independent of the area of contact and is proportional to the
reasonable reaction between the contacting surfaces.
Angle of fiction: Angle made by the resultant of normal reaction and limiting friction with the
normal reaction is called the angle of friction.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

The coefficient of static friction is equal to the tangent of the angle of friction.

Write advantages and disadvantages of friction.

Advantages of friction:
1) One can walk easily on rough surface than smooth surface.
2) Moving vehicle on road can be stopped suddenly by applying brakes.
3) One can hammer nail into wall.
4) One can easily hold pen, pencil and can write on paper.
Disadvantages of friction:
1) Energy is lost due to friction.
2) It causes wear and tear in machine parts.
3) More effort is required to lift any load on a machine.
4) There is more consumption of fuel due to friction.

Draw FBD of ladder in friction.

Where,
μg = Coefficient of friction between the ladder and the ground.
μw= Coefficient of friction between the ladder and the wall.
Rg = Normal reaction at the ground.
Rw =Normal reaction at the wall.
Fg =Force of friction between the ladder and the ground.
Fw =Force of friction between the ladder and the wall.

Define centroid and centre of gravity.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Centroid: It is defined as the point through which the entire area of a plane figure is assumed to
act, for all positions of the lamina.
e.g. Square, rectangle, circle etc.
Centre of Gravity:- It is defined as the point through which the whole weight of the body is
assumed to act, irrespective of the position of a body.
e.g. Cone, Cylinder, cube etc.

Center of mass: The Centre of mass of a body or system of a particle is defined as a point at
which the whole of the mass of the body or all the masses of a system of a particle appear to be
concentrated.

D‟Alembert‟s Principle:
I. When projected onto any virtual displacement, the total difference between the force acting
on the system and the time derivatives of the momenta is zero for a system of mass
particles.
II. It is a variant of Newton‟s second law of motion.
III. The second law of motion states that F = ma, although D‟Alembert‟s principle states that
F – ma = 0. Therefore, when a real force exerts itself on the item, it can be considered in
equilibrium. Here, F is the actual force, while ma is a constructed force known as the
inertial force.
IV. D‟Alembert showed how to convert an accelerating rigid body into an equal static system
by combining inertial force and inertial torque or moment.

Work energy principle with Proof:

i. The work done by the net force on a particle equals the change in the particle's kinetic
energy KE.
ii. i.e. Workdone = Change in K.E.
iii. i.e. F x d = mv2 - mu2
iv. The work-energy theorem can be derived from Newton's second law.
u v

m F

_______________________________________________
d

Proof: Consider a body of mass m, pulled by a force F with initial velocity u and final velocity v,
for a distance d.
As per Newton‟s second law of motion,

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

F=ma
F=m x v

Fx∫ =mx∫

F x [s]0d = m x [ ]vu

F x (d-0) = m x (v2/2– u2/2)

F x d = mv2 - mu2
i.e. Workdone = Change in K.E.

Impulse momentum Principle:

It states that, Impulse force is equals to change in momentum.
Proof: Consider a body of mass m, pulled by a force F with initial velocity u and final velocity v,
for a time t sec.
As per Newton‟s second law of motion,
F=ma
F=m x
Fx∫ =mx∫
F x [t]0 = m x [v]vu
t

F x (t-0) = m x (v –u)
Ft = mv – mu
i.e. Impulse force is equals to change in momentum.

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 Theory Notes on Engineering Mechanics

Law of conservation of momentum:

It states that, momentum before impact is equals to momentum after impact.

u1 u2 v1 v2

_____________________________________________________________________________
m1 m2 m1 m2 m1 m2

Before impact During Impact After impact

Mathematically it is given by, m1u1 + m2u2 = m1v1 + m2v2

u1 u2 v1 v2

_____________________________________________________________________________
m1 m2 m1 m2 m1 m2

Before impact During Impact After impact

Mathematically it is given by, m1u1 - m2u2 = -m1v1 + m2v2

Coefficient of restitution (e): It is the ratio of velocity of seperation and velocity of approaches.

The value of e is
i. For perfectly elastic body e =1
ii. For perfectly plastic body e = 0
iii. For semi elastic or plastic e is in between 0 to 1.

Types of impact:
I) Direct impact/Central impact: When two bodies, moving along the same line, collide, the impact
is called direct impact.
II) Oblique/Indirect impact: When two bodies, moving along different lines, collide the impact is
called oblique impact.

References & Image Courtesy: Google

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