Chapter 1

General Principles

Engineering Mechanics: Statics

 Chapter Outline
 Mechanics
 Fundamental Concepts
 Units of Measurement
 The International System of Units
 Numerical Calculations
 General Procedure for Analysis
 1.1 Mechanics
 Mechanics can be divided into 3
branches:
- Rigid-body Mechanics
- Deformable-body Mechanics
- Fluid Mechanics
 Rigid-body Mechanics deals with

- Statics
- Dynamics
 1.1 Mechanics
 Statics – Equilibrium of bodies
 At rest
 Move with constant velocity

Dynamics – Accelerated motion of

bodies
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Basic Quantities
 Length
– Locate position and describe size of physical
system
– Define distance and geometric properties of a
body
 Mass
– Comparison of action of one body against
another
– Measure of resistance of matter to a change in
velocity
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Basic Quantities
 Time
– Conceive as succession of events
 Force
– “push” or “pull” exerted by one body on another
– Occur due to direct contact between bodies
Eg: Person pushing against the wall
– Occur through a distance without direct contact
Eg: Gravitational, electrical and magnetic forces
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Idealizations
 Particles
– Consider mass but neglect size
Eg: Size of Earth insignificant compared to its
size of orbit
 Rigid Body
– Combination of large number of particles
– Neglect material properties
Eg: Deformations in structures, machines and
mechanism
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Idealizations
 Concentrated Force
– Effect of loading, assumed to act at a
point on a body

– Represented by a concentrated force,

provided loading area is small compared to
overall size
Eg: Contact force between wheel and ground
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

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 that the particle
is not subjected to an unbalanced
force”
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

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”
F  ma
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

 Third Law
“The mutual forces of action and reaction
between two particles are equal and,
opposite and collinear”
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newton’s Law of Gravitational Attraction

m1 m 2
F G 2
r

F = force of gravitation between two particles

G = universal constant of gravitation
m1,m2 = mass of each of the two particles
r = distance between the two particles
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

mM e
Weight, W G 2
r

Letting g  GM e / r 2
yields

W  mg
 1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Comparing F = mg with F = ma
 g is the acceleration due to gravity
 Since g is dependent on r, weight of a body is
not an absolute quantity
 Magnitude is determined from where the
measurement is taken
 For most engineering calculations, g is
determined at sea level and at a latitude of 45°
 1.3 Units of Measurement

SI Units
 Système International d’Unités
 F = ma is maintained only if
– Three of the units, called base units, are
arbitrarily defined
– Fourth unit is derived from the equation
 SI system specifies length in meters (m), time in
seconds (s) and mass in kilograms (kg)
 Unit of force, called Newton (N) is derived from F
= ma
 1.3 Units of Measurement

Name Length Time Mass Force

Internationa Meter Second Kilogram Newton

l Systems of (m) (s) (kg) (N)
Units (SI)
 kg.m 
 2 
 s 
 1.3 Units of Measurement

 At the standard location,

g = 9.806 65 m/s2
 For calculations, we use

g = 9.81 m/s2
 Thus,

W = mg (g = 9.81m/s2)
 Hence, a body of mass 1 kg has a weight
of 9.81 N, a 2 kg body weighs 19.62 N
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Prefixes
 For a very large or very small numerical
quantity, the units can be modified by
using a prefix
 Each represent a multiple or sub-multiple
of a unit
Eg: 4,000,000 N = 4000 kN (kilo-newton)
= 4 MN (mega- newton)
0.005m = 5 mm (milli-meter)
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Exponential Prefix SI Symbol
Form
Multiple
1 000 000 000 109 Giga G
1 000 000 106 Mega M
1 000 103 Kilo k

Sub-Multiple
0.001 10-3 Milli m
0.000 001 10-6 Micro μ
0.000 000 001 10-9 nano n
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
 Never write a symbol with a plural “s”.
Easily confused with second (s)
 Symbols are always written in
lowercase letters, except the 2 largest
prefixes, mega (M) and giga (G)
 Symbols named after an individual are
capitalized Eg: newton (N)
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
 Quantities defined by several units
which are multiples, are separated by a
dot
Eg: N = kg.m/s2 = kg.m.s-2
 The exponential power represented for
a unit having a prefix refer to both the
unit and its prefix
Eg: μN2 = (μN)2 = μN. μN
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
 Physical constants with several digits on
either side should be written with a space
between 3 digits rather than a comma
Eg: 73 569.213 427
 In calculations, represent numbers in
terms of their base or derived units by
converting all prefixes to powers of 10
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
Eg: (50kN)(60nm) = [50(103)N][60(10-9)m]
= 3000(10-6)N.m
= 3(10-3)N.m
= 3 mN.m

 The final result should be expressed using

a single prefix
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
 Compound prefix should not be used
Eg: kμs (kilo-micro-second) should be expressed as
ms (milli-second) since
1 kμs = 1 (103)(10-6) s = 1 (10-3) s = 1ms
 With exception of base unit kilogram, avoid use
of prefix in the denominator of composite units
Eg: Do not write N/mm but rather kN/m
Also, m/mg should be expressed as Mm/kg
 1.4 The International System of
Units
Rules for Use
 Although not expressed in terms of
multiples of 10, the minute, hour etc are
retained for practical purposes as multiples
of second.
 Plane angular measurements are made
using radians. In this class, degrees would
be often used where 180° = π rad
 1.5 Numerical Calculations

 Dimensional Homogeneity
- Each term must be expressed in the
same units
Eg: s = vt + ½ at2 where s is position
in meters (m), t is time in seconds (s),
v is velocity in m/s and a is acceleration
in m/s2

- Regardless of how the equation is

evaluated, it maintains its dimensional
homogeneity
 1.5 Numerical Calculations

 Dimensional Homogeneity
- All the terms of an equation can be
replaced by a consistent set of units,
that can be used as a partial check for
algebraic manipulations of an equation
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
 Significant Figures
- The accuracy of a number is specified by
the number of significant figures it contains

- A significant figure is any digit including

zero, provided it is not used to specify the
location of the decimal point for the number
Eg: 5604 and 34.52 have four significant
numbers
 1.5 Numerical Calculations

 Significant Figures
- When numbers begin or end with zero, we make
use of prefixes to clarify the number of significant
figures
Eg: 400 as one significant figure would be 0.4(103)
2500 as three significant figures would be
2.50(103)
 1.5 Numerical Calculations

Computers are often used in engineering for

advanced design and analysis
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
 Rounding Off Numbers
- For numerical calculations, the accuracy
obtained from the solution of a problem
would never be better than the accuracy of
the problem data

- Often handheld calculators or computers

involve more figures in the answer than the
number of significant figures in the data
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
 Rounding Off Numbers
- Calculated results should always be
“rounded off” to an appropriate number of
significant figures
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
 Rulesfor Rounding to n significant
figures
- If the n+1 digit is less than 5, the n+1 digit and
others following it are dropped
Eg: 2.326 and 0.451 rounded off to n = 2
significance figures would be 2.3 and 0.45

- If the n+1 digit is equal to 5 with zero following it,

then round nth digit to an even number
Eg: 1.245(103) and 0.8655 rounded off to n = 3
significant figures become 1.24(103) and 0.866
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
 Rulesfor Rounding to n significant
figures
- If the n+1 digit is greater than 5 or equal
to 5 with non-zero digits following it,
increase the nth digit by 1 and drop the
n+1digit and the others following it
Eg: 0.723 87 and 565.5003 rounded off to
n = 3 significance figures become 0.724
and 566
 1.5 Numerical Calculations

 Calculations
- To ensure the accuracy of the final
results, always retain a greater number of
digits than the problem data
- If possible, try work out computations so
that numbers that are approximately equal
are not subtracted
-In engineering, we generally round off
final answers to three significant figures
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
Example 1.1
Evaluate each of the following and express with
SI units having an approximate prefix: (a) (50
mN)(6 GN), (b) (400 mm)(0.6 MN)2, (c) 45
MN3/900 Gg

Solution
First convert to base units, perform indicated
operations and choose an appropriate prefix
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
(a)  50mN  6GN 
 
 5010 3  N 6109  N 
 300106  N 2

 30010  N  3  3 
6  1kN  1kN 
2

 10 N  10 N 
 300kN 2
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
(b)  400mm  0.6MN  2

  m0.610  N 
 400 10 3 6 2

  40010  m0.3610  N 
3 12 2

 14410  m.N
9 2

 144Gm.N 2
 1.5 Numerical Calculations
(c) 45MN 3 / 900Gg
4510 N 
6 3


900106  kg
 0.051012  N 3 / kg

 0.0510  N  3 
12  1kN  1
3

 10 N  kg
 0.05103  kN 3 / kg
 50kN 3 / kg