STATICS

1 General Principles
Objectives

• Basic quantities and idealizations of mechanics

• Newton’s Laws of Motion and Gravitation
• Principles for applying the SI system of units
• Standard procedures for performing numerical
calculations
• General guide for solving problems
Outline

1. Mechanics
2. Fundamental Concepts
3. Units of Measurement
4. The International System of Units
5. Numerical Calculations
6. 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
1. Length
- Length is used to locate the position of a point in space and
thereby describe the size of a physical system. Once a standard
unit of length is defined, one can then use it to define distances
and geometric properties of a body as multiples of this unit.
2. Mass
- Mass is a measure of a quantity of matter that is used to
compare the action of one body with that of another. This
property manifests itself as a gravitational attraction between two
bodies and provides a measure of the resistance of matter to a
change in velocity.
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Basic Quantities
3. Time
- Time is conceived as a succession of events. Although the
principles of statics are time independent, this quantity plays an
important role in the study of dynamics.
4. Force
- In general, force is considered as a “push” or “pull” exerted by
one body on another. This interaction can occur when there is
direct contact between the bodies, such as a person pushing on
a wall, or it can occur through a distance when the bodies are
physically separated. Examples of the latter type include
gravitational, electrical, and magnetic forces. In any case, a force
is completely characterized by its magnitude, direction, and point
of application.
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Idealizations
1. Particles
- has a mass and size can be neglected

2. Rigid Body
- a combination of a large number of particles

3. Concentrated Force
- the effect of a loading
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
r2
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

We can develop an approximate expression for finding the Weight W of a

particle having a mass m1 = m . If we assume the earth to be a nonrotating
sphere of constant density and having a mass m2 = Me , then if r is the
distance between the earth’s center and the particle, we have
mM e
Weight: W  G
r2

Letting g  GM e / r 2
yields W  mg
1.3 Units of Measurement

SI Units
• Stands for Système International d’Unités
• F = ma is maintained only if
– 3 of the units, called base units, are defined
– 4th unit is derived from the equation
• SI system specifies length in meters (m), time in
seconds (s) and mass in kilograms (kg)
• Force unit, Newton (N), is derived from F = ma
1.3 Units of Measurement

Name Length Time Mass Force

International Meter (m) Second (s) Kilogram (kg) Newton (N)

Systems of 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 small numerical quantity, 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
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Dimensional Homogeneity
• Each term must be expressed in the same units
• Regardless of how the equation is evaluated, it
maintains its dimensional homogeneity
• All terms can be replaced by a consistent set of units
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Significant Figures
• Accuracy of a number is specified by the number of
significant figures it contains
• A significant figure is any digit including zero
e.g. 5604 and 34.52 have four significant numbers
• When numbers begin or end with zero, we make use
of prefixes to clarify the number of significant figures
e.g. 400 as one significant figure would be 0.4(103)
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Rounding Off Numbers

• Accuracy obtained would never be better than the
accuracy of the problem data
• Calculators or computers involve more figures in the
answer than the number of significant figures in the
data
• Calculated results should always be “rounded off” to
an appropriate number of significant figures
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Calculations
• Retain a greater number of digits for accuracy
• Work out computations so that numbers that are
approximately equal
• Round off final answers to three significant figures
1.6 General Procedure for Analysis

• To solve problems, it is important to present work in a

logical and orderly way as suggested:
1. Correlate actual physical situation with theory
2. Draw any diagrams and tabulate the problem data
3. Apply principles in mathematics forms
4. Solve equations which are
dimensionally homogenous
5. Report the answer with
significance figures
6. Technical judgment
and common sense
Example

Convert to 2 km/h to m/s.

Solution

2 km  1000 m  1 h 
2 km/h      0.556 m/s
h  km  3600 s 
Remember to round off the final answer to three significant figures.