ES 27 - ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Chapter 1
Introduction

ELWIN JAY J.TANO

Instructor
 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. To provide an introduction to the
basic quantities and idealizations
of mechanics.
2. To give a statement of Newton’s
Laws of Motion and Gravitation.
3. To review the principles for
applying the SI system of units.
 CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Mechanics
2. Fundamental Concepts
3. Fundamental Principles
4. Idealization/Scientific Models
5. Systems of Units
6. Method of Problem Solution
 ENGINEERING MECHANICS
Everything from individual particles to the
tallest buildings to a rushing river experiences
forces and torques.Each object—liquid or
solid,large or small-- responds differently
under different conditions. Engineering
mechanics examines these external forces by
studying statics, dynamics, materials strength,
elasticity, viscoelasticity and fluid dynamics
MECHANICS
• Mechanics is the science which describes
and predicts the conditions of rest or
motion of bodies under the action of
forces.

• Mechanics is an applied science - it is not

an abstract or pure science but does not
have the empiricism found in other
engineering sciences.

• Mechanics is the foundation of most

engineering sciences and is an
indispensable prerequisite to their study.
 MECHANICS

• Statics – deals with the • Dynamics – concerned with

equilibrium of bodies, the accelerated motion of
that are either at rest or bodies
move with a constant
velocity
Fundamental Concepts
1.SPACE - associated with the notion of the
position of a point P given in terms of three
coordinates measured from a reference point
or origin.
- characterized by a basic measure
length.

Length – Locate position

and describe size of
physical system
– Define distance
and geometrical
properties of a body.
 Fundamental Concepts
2.TIME - conceived as a succession of events or how
one thing happens before/after another.

3.MASS – property of matter by which we can

compare the action of one body with that of another.,
– Measure of resistance of matter to a change
in velocity
• e.g.,response to earth’s gravitational attraction and
resistance to changes in translational motion.
Fundamental Concepts
4.FORCE - represents the action of one body
on another. Interaction can occur when there
is direct contact or when the bodies are
physically separated.

A force is characterized by its:

• point of application,
• magnitude,and
• direction
Fundamental Concepts

In Newtonian Mechanics,space,
time,and mass are absolute
concepts,independent of each
other. Force,however,is not
independent of the other three. The
force acting on a body is related to
the mass of the body and the
variation of its velocity with time.
 Fundamental Principles
• Parallelogram
Law
“Two forces acting on a
particle maybe replaced by
single force called their
resultant obtained by
drawing diagonal of the
parallelogram which has sides
equal to the given forces.”
•Principleof
Transmissibility
“The condition of equilibrium or of motion
of a rigid body will remain unchanged if the
force acting on a given point of the rigid
body is replaced by a force of the same
magnitude and same direction, but acting
on a different point, provided that the two
forces have the same line of action”
Fundamental Principles
Newton’sThree Laws of Motion
• Newton’s First Law:Law of Inertia
“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”

෍ 𝐹 =0
Fundamental Principles
Newton’sThree Laws of Motion
• Newton’s Second Law:Law of Acceleration
“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”

σ𝐹
𝑎=
𝑚
Fundamental Principles
Newton’sThree Laws of Motion
• Newton’s Third Law:Law of Action-Reaction
“The mutual forces of action and
reaction between two particles are
equal and,opposite and collinear”

𝐹(𝐴 𝑜𝑛 𝐵) = −𝐹(𝐵 𝑜𝑛 𝐴)
 Fundamental Principles
Newton’s Law of Gravitational Attraction
“This states that two particles of mass 𝑚1 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑚2 are mutually attracted with equal and
opposite forces F and –F of magnitude F given
by the formula
m1m 2
F =G
r2
F = force of gravitation between two particles
G = universal constant of gravitation
= 66.73 x 10−12 𝑚3/kg. 𝑠2
𝑚1, 𝑚2 = mass of each of the two particles
r = distance between the two particles
Fundamental Principles
WEIGHT – refers to the gravitational attraction of
the earth on body or gravity of mass. Magnitude
depends upon the elevation at which the mass is
located.
mM e
W =G 2
r
g = GM e / r 2
Letting

yields W = mg
𝑔 = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠2 acceleration due to gravity,
determined at a standard location (at sea level
and at a latitude of 45 degrees).
Idealization/Scientific Models
1. PARTICLES
– Consider mass but neglect size.

2. RIGID BODY
– Combination of large number of particles
in which all the particles remain at a fixed
distances from one another both before and
after applying a load.Neglect material
properties.
Idealization/Scientific Models
3. 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
Systems of Units
SI Units [International System of Units ]
The basic units are length,time,and mass
which are arbitrarily defined as the meter (m),
second (s),and kilogram (kg). Force (N) is the
derived unit,
F = ma
 m
1 N = (1kg ) 1 2 
 s 
Systems of Units
U.S.Customar y Units
The basic units are length,time,and force
which are arbitrarily defined as the foot (ft),
second (s), and pound (lb). Mass (slug) is the
derived unit,
F
m=
a
1lb
1slug =
1ft s
 Systems of Units
Name Length Time Mass Force

Internation Meter Second Kilogram Newton

al Systems (m) (s) (kg) (N)
of Units
(SI)

U.S. Foot Second slug Pound

Customary (ft) (s) (lb)
Units
Systems of Units
• At the standard location,
g = 9.806 65 m/𝑠2
• For calculations, we use
g = 9.81m/𝑠2

W = mg
• Thus,a body of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.81
N,a 2 kg body weighs 19.62 N.
International Systems of Units Prefixes

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
 Method of Problem Solution
• Problem Statement:
Includes given data,
specification of what is to be
determined, and a figure
showing all quantities involved.
• Free-Body Diagrams:
Create separate diagrams for
each of the bodies involved with
a clear indication of all forces
acting on each body.
• Fundamental Principles:
The six fundamental principles
are applied to express the
conditions of rest or motion of
each body. The rules of algebra
are applied to solve the
equations for the unknown
quantities.
• Solution Check:
- Test for errors in reasoning by
verifying that the units of the
computed results are correct,
- test for errors in computation by
substituting given data and
computed results into previously
unused equations based on the
six principles,
-always apply experience and
physical intuition to assess whether
results seem “reasonable”