Lecture notes - Chapter 1 - Revision of concepts

097430 - Statics

Luis C. M. da Silva

Last update: September 2022

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 097430 - Statics
Luis C.M. da Silva - 2022/2023

Contents

1 Revision of concepts 3
1.1 Fundamentals of trigonometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Scalars, vectors and matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 The inner (or dot, or scalar) product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 The cross (or vector) product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 System of units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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1 Revision of concepts

This chapter addresses the revision of trigonometric and algebraic concepts that are fundamental in the
field of structural mechanics; hence including structural-related courses, e.g. Statics, Strength of materials,
Continuum Solid Mechanics.

1.1 Fundamentals of trigonometry

To write angles and arcs (of a circle) we may use two main systems of units:

• Sexagesimal angular measure, in which the fundamental unit is degrees. It can be represented in an
abbreviated form as deg. or °.

• Centesimal angular measure, in which the fundamental unit is π.

We can establish the correspondence between the two measures. For instance, the following references are
important and can be used to establish the conversion: 90°= π2 , 180°= π, 270°= 3π
2 and 360°= 2π.
Let us recall some basic concepts of trigonometry. For a right angle triangle - with the rectangular angle
in A -, we can write the following relations:

opposite side adjacent side opposite side 1 adjacent side

sin (·) = hypotenuse cos (·) = hypotenuse tan (·) = adjacent side cot (·) = tan (·) = opposite side
(1)
and for the angles given in Fig. 1 we can establish the following relations:

AB CA CA AB
sin α = BC
sin β = BC
cos α = BC
cos β = BC

AB AC AC BC
tan α = AC
tan β = BC
cot α = AB
cot β = AC

Figure 1: Right angle triangle for trigonometric relations.

For triangles in general, we can also address the following:

• The sum of the internal angles is 180 °. For the triangle given in Fig. 1 we have (α + β + γ = 180°)
, in which γ = 90 °.

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• Law of sine’s: AB
sin α = CB
sin γ = CA
sin β

2 2 2
• Law of cosine’s: CA = CB + AB − 2CB AB cos β

1.2 Scalars, vectors and matrices

The fundamental rules of tensor algebra required for the course are given herein. Most of the statements
are given without mathematical proofs. For a more detailed explanation, the student is recommended to
[1]. In this course we use lowercase Greek letters for scalars, lowercase Latin letters with over right arrow
for vectors, and uppercase bold-face Latin letters for matrices:

→
− →
− −
α, β, γ, . . . are scalars a , b ,→
c , . . . are vectors A, B, C, . . . are matrices (2)

A physical quantity that can be described by a real number is called a scalar. Examples are quantities
like temperature, density, mass, etc.. A physical quantity that requires the definition of both direction and
length − as force, velocity, acceleration − is described to be a vector. Note that in other references we
can find other nomenclature to represent vectors, such as a, b, c or a, b, c. Vectors can be classified as:
e e e

• fixed vector: it can not be moved without changing the state of the problem, such as the position of
the force vector of the weight of elements;

• moving vector: the application point can be moved along the line of action (see Fig. 2);

• free vector: it can be moved freely around the space (2D or 3D).

It can be noted the particular vectors within the group of moving vectors. In specific, we address the vectors
designated as equal that have the same direction, line of action and length; and the vectors designated as
opposite that have the same line of action and length, but opposite direction.

The sum of vectors yields a new vector and Eq. (3) provides valid relations, from the commutative to
the associative rules. This can be graphically demonstrated through the so-called parallelogram law of
addition that is addressed in a subsequent section.

→
− →
− →
− −
a + b = b +→ a
→− →
− →
−
a + b +→
−c = →
−
a + b +→−c
  

→
− → − →
− (3)
d + 0 = d
→
− →
−
u + (−→
−
u) = 0

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Line of action
Direction
Modulus (or length, or norm) || ||
Point of application (point A) b
equal vectors opposing vectors
(a) Properties of a vector (b) particular case of moving vectors

(c) decomposition of a vector

Figure 2: Vector in a two dimensional space.

→
−
in which 0 represents the unique zero vector that has an unspecified direction and null length. Let us look
→
− →
−
now to a unique vector f and a scalar (real number) α. From the scalar multiplication defined as α f
we obtain another vector with (i) the same origin, (ii) the same line of action, (iii) with the same direction
→
− →
−
of f if α > 0 or with the opposite direction if α < 0, and (iv) with different length of f if α ̸= 1.0.
Properties from scalar multiplication are given in Eq. (4), in which the distributive relation in respect to
scalars is highlighted.
(αβ) →
−
a = α (β →
−
a)
(α + β) →
−
a = α→
−
a + β→ −
a (4)
→
− →−
α →−
a + b = α→ −
 
a +α b

1.3 The inner (or dot, or scalar) product

The inner product is a algebraic operation between two vectors. Such operation is also generally designated
−c and →
as dot or scalar product. Mathematically, the inner product of two vectors, let us say →
−
d , is described
−c · →
either as →
− −c , →
d or ⟨→
−
d ⟩. In this course, we adopt the former nomenclature, such that:

−c · →
→ −
d = |c||d| cos θ , 0≤θ≤π (5)

−c and →
in which θ is the angle between two nonzero vectors →
−
d when sharing the same origin. The inner
product of two vectors is also often called as scalar product because its result is a scalar quantity and with

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the following properties:

→
− →
− →
− −
a · b = b ·→ a
→
− →−
a · 0 =0
→
− →
−  → −
a α→−c + β d = α (→
−a ·→
−c ) + β →−
 
a d (6)
→
− →
−
u ·→
−u > 0 if → −u ̸= 0
→
− →
−
u ·→
−u = 0 if → −u = 0

Note that |·| (or ∥·∥) is called the length − or module, norm or magnitude − of a vector and is, necessarily,
a non-negative real number. It is obtained using the Pythagorean theorem and thus obtained as the square
root of the inner product of a vector. For instance, the length of the vector →
−
u is calculated as per Eq. (7).

√
|→
−
u | = ∥→
−
u∥= →−
u ·→
−
u ≥0 , →
−
u2 =→
−
u ·→
−
u (7)

in which if a given vector has a unitary length, i.e. |→

−
u | = 1.0, then we define here |→
−
u | as a unitary vector.
The inner product is of fundamental importance since it allows to compute the projection of a given
vector in respect to another vector, which can be a basis of a coordinate system. As example, we find the
projection of a vector →
−
u along the direction of a basis vector →
−
e = [1 , 0] according to:
1

→
−
u ·→
−
e 1 = |→
−
u | cos θ(−
→ (8)
u −−
→
e 1)

in which θ(− →
− →
−
→ e 1 ) is the angle between vectors u and e 1 according to Fig. ??. Eq. (8) is designated as
u −−
→

the geometric definition of the inner product.

Similarly, we can provide the inner product of two vectors according to the algebraic definition. Given two
→
− →
− → − → −
vectors →
−a = [→−
a 1, →
−
a 2, →
−
a 3 ] and b = [ b 1 , b 2 , b 3 ] in the 3D Euclidian space, then we can write:

3
→
− →
− →
− →
− →
− →
− →
−
ai bi =→
−
a1 b1+→
−
a2 b2+→
−
X
a · b = a3 b3 (9)
i=1

From the inner product we can also evaluate if two vectors are perpendicular. If two vectors are
perpendicular, we can verify that the projection of a vector over the other is null. Let us assume two
→
−
vectors →
−
a and b , then:
→
− →
−
a · b =0 , θ(−
→ → = π/2
−
a−b)
(10)

→
−
in which θ(−
→ → is the angle between →
− −
a and b according to Fig. 3.
a−b)

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(a) positive value (b) null value

Figure 3: Graphical representation of two vectors and its inner product.

Synopsis

• The inner product between two vectors is a scalar that is independent of the assumed coordinate
system;

• The inner product can be found either algebraically or geometrically. The equivalence of these two
definitions relies on having a Cartesian coordinate system for Euclidean space.

• The geometric definition of the inner product of two vectors is based on the notions of angle and
length (magnitude) of vectors and defined according to Eq. (8).

• The algebraic definition of the inner product of two vectors is based on the decomposition of the
vectors in each basis of the coordinate system. It is defined according to Eq. (9).

• The inner product is the product projection between two vectors. When one of the two vectors
represent a basis vector of a coordinate system, hence with unitary length, then we have the projection.

Example 1: Euclidian 2D space

→
− − →
−
Consider the vectors →
−
a and b : → a = [1.0, 5.0] and b = [−2.0, 0.0].
→
−
(a) Represent graphically the vectors →
−
a and b and verify if they are perpendicular.
→
−
(b) Compute the angle θ between the vectors → −
a and b .

→
− →
−
(a) The vectors →
−
a and b are perpendicular if →
−
a · b = 0. From the graphical representation of Fig. 5, we
→
−
can observe that θ > 0 and therefore conclude that →−a and b are not perpendicular. The demonstration
can be easily given by the algebraic definition from Eq.(9):

→
− →
− →
−
a · b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 = →
−
a · b = 1.0 × (−2.0) + 5.0 × 0.0 = −2.0

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a
q>0

a2

q
b O a1

Figure 4: Graphical representation.

(b) The angle θ between the two vectors can be obtained from the geometrical definition given in Eq.
8. Therefore, we can write that:
→
− →
− →
−
a · b = |→
−
a || b | cos θ
And so:
−
→ −
→
a·b −2.0 √−2.0
cos θ = −
→ =√ √ = √
|−
→
a || b | (1.0)2 +(5.0)2 (−2.0)2 +(0.0)2 26 4
in which the angle θ can be found through the arccos function, such that:
θ = arccos( √−2.0
√ ) ≈ 101.309 deg.
26 4

1.4 The cross (or vector) product

The cross (or vector) product between two vectors originates another vector. For two vectors, let us say
→
− →
− →
−
u and f , it is mathematically written as →
−
u × f . Contrarily to the inner product, the cross product is
not commutative but yet anti-commutative:

→
− →
− →
− −
a × b =− b ×→
a (11)

Furthermore, we say that two vectors are linearly dependent if:

→
− →
− →
−
if →
−
a × b = 0 =⇒ →
−
a and b are linearly dependent (12)

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→
− →
− →
− →
− →
−
In such case, i.e. if →
−
a × b = 0 and →
−
a , b ̸= 0 , then →
−
a and b are parallel vectors. Other properties
related with the cross product are given next:

→
−  →
− →
−
(α→
−
a)× b =→ −
a × αb =α → −

a × b
(13)
−c · →
− → − → →
− − → −
→ d × f = −c × d + → c × f

In specific, the cross product between two vectors produces a new vector that is perpendicular (or orthog-
onal). The direction of the produced vector is geometrically defined through the right-hand rule and its
magnitude defined by the area of the parallelogram formed by the two vectors. This is indicated in Fig. .
→
−
The geometrical definition of the cross product of two arbitrary vectors →
−
a and b is:

→
− →
− →
−
a × b = |→
−
a || b | sin θ(−
→ −
→
a−b)
(14)

→
−
in which θ(−
→ → is the angle between the vectors →
− −
a and b and is limited to be within 0 ≤ θ(−
→ → ≤ π.
−
a−b) a−b)
The algebraic definition is given according to the so-called Sarru’s rule (Fig. 6). For a given coordinate

(a) graphical representation (b) right-hand rule

Figure 5: Cross product.

system defined by the components i, j and k, the cross product is found as per Eq. (15):

+ia2b3 i j k
+a1b2k a1 a2 a3
+b1ja3
b1 b2 b3
−b1a2k
−ib2a3 i j k
−a1jb3 a1 a2 a3

Figure 6: Sarru’s rule to obtain the cross product between two vectors (source: https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Cmglee.

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→
− →
−
a × b = + a1 b1 0 + a1 b2 k − a1 b3 j
→
− →
− →
−
− a2 b1 k + a2 b2 0 + a2 b3 i
(15)
→
− →
− →
−
+ a3 b1 j − a3 b2 i + a3 b3 0
→
− →
− →
−
= (a2 b3 − a3 b2 ) i + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 ) j + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 ) k

→
− →
− →
− →
−
If we assume that the resulting vector →
−c = →
−
a × b , then its three components c = c1 i + c2 j + c3 k ,
in which:
c1 = a2 b3 − a3 b2

c2 = a3 b1 − a1 b3 (16)

c3 = a1 b2 − a2 b1

or, equivalently, in a column vector form:

   
c a b − a3 b2
 1  2 3 
=
c2  a3 b1 − a1 b3  (17)
   
   
c3 a1 b2 − a2 b1

Example 2: Cross product

Calculate the cross product of the vectors and make its graphical representation.
→
−
(a) →
−
a = [0, 1.5, 0] and b = [0, −1.0, 0].
→
−
(b) →
−
a = [0, 1.0, 0] and b = [0, 2.0, 0].
→
−
(c) →
−
a = [0, 1.5, 0] and b = [−1.0, 0, 0].
→
−
(d) →
−
a = [0, 1.5, 0] and b = [1.0, 0, 0].

→
−
The cross product →
−
a × b is computed from Eq. 16, such that:
c = [c1 , c2 , c3 ] = [a2 b3 − a3 b2 , a3 b1 − a1 b3 , a1 b2 − a2 b1 ]
→
−
Note that for convenience, the vectors were designated using the same nomenclature, i.e. →
−
a and b ,
and so the order for such operation remains since →
−
a is the first position.
(a)
c = [c1 , c2 , c3 ] = [1.5 · 0 − 0 · (−1) , 0 · 0 − 0 · 0 , 0 · (−1.0) − (−1.0) · (0)] = [0 , 0 , 0 ]
→
−
The →−
a × b retrieves a null vector and it is graphically presented in Fig. 7a.
(b)
c = [c1 , c2 , c3 ] = [1.0 · 0 − 0 · 2.0 , 0 · 0 − 0 · 0 , 0 · 2.0 − 1.0 · 0] = [0 , 0 , 0 ]
→
−
The →−
a × b retrieves a null vector and it is graphically presented in Fig. 7b.

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(c)
c = [c1 , c2 , c3 ] = [1.5 · 0 − 0 · 0 , 0 · (−1.0) − 0 · 0 , 0 · 0 − 1.5 · (−1.0)] = [0 , 0 , 1.5 ]
→
−
The →−
a × b = [0 , 0 , 1.5 ] and according to the right-hand rule it leads to a positive direction (rotation),
as graphically presented in Fig. 7c.
(d)
c = [c1 , c2 , c3 ] = [1.5 · 0 − 0 · 0 , 0 · (−1.0) − 0 · 0 , 0 · 0 − 1.5 · (1.0)] = [0 , 0 , −1.5 ]
→
−
The →−
a × b = [0 , 0 , −1.5 ] and according to the right-hand rule it leads to a negative direction (rotation),
as graphically presented in Fig. 7d.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 7: Cross product: (a)(b) null value because the vectors have the same direction; (c) positive and
value; and (d) negative value. NOTE: vectors are drawn without a scale, but rather with an illustrative
scope.

1.5 System of units

The international system of units is used since 1960 and is based on three fundamental concepts: Length,
Time and Mass. The description of the units that are important in this course are described in Table
1. It is also important to address that we will deal with equilibrium of particles and rigid bodies. Such

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Table 1: International system of units (SI) important for the course.

Measures Dimension Unit

Length L m
Time T s
Mass M kg
Force M LT −2 = F N
Pressure M L−1 T −2 = F L−2 Pa=N/m2 (Pascal)
Moment M L−2 = F L Nm
Energy E Joule = J = N m = kgm2 s−2

equilibrium will be evaluated considering the unit measure of force and moment (of a force). It is then of
utmost importance to have in mind that:

1N = 1kg1m/s2
1P a = 1N/m2
1kP a = 103 P a = 0.1N/cm2
1M P a = 106 P a = 1N/mm2
1GP a = 109 P a = 1kN/mm2

Likewise, it is recommended to have in mind that keeping the consistency between the used units of
measures during the resolution of problems is fundamental to avoid conversion problems. By consistency,
we refer that one should use one of the following relations during all the calculation process and, at the
end, convert to the desired unit:

N→
− m→
− Pa →
− s→
− kg
kN →
− m→
− kPa →
− s→
− ton
N→
− mm →
− MPa →
− s→
− ton

References

[1] Earl W Swokowski and Jeffery A Cole. Algebra and trigonometry with analytic geometry. Cengage
Learning, 2012.

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