Engineering Mechanics Statics

Chapter 3: Equilibrium of a Particle

1. Terms used in this chapter

- Static Equilibrium
- Particle
- Force
- Vectors
- Coplanar Force Systems
2. Definitions of Technical Terms Used
- Static Equilibrium
In classical mechanics, a particle is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on that
particle is zero
- Particle
The size and shape of the object being analyzed does not significantly affect the
problem solving, so that all forces acting on an object will be assumed to work at the
same point.
- Force
is a vector quantity that occurs in an object
- Vectors
is a parameter that has a number of magnitudes and directions
- Coplanar Force Systems
Coplanar force systems have all the forces acting in in one plane. They may be
concurrent, parallel, non-concurrent or non-parallel. All of these systems can be
resolved by using graphic statics or algebra.
3. Chapter Objective
- to introduce the concept of the free-body diagram for a particle
- To show how to solve particle equilibrium problems using the equations of
equilibrium