Introduction

Engineering is the application of mathematics, empirical evidence and scientific, economic,

social, and practical knowledge in order to invent, innovate, design, build, maintain, research, and
improve structures, machines, tools, systems, components, materials, processes and
organizations.

Engineering Mechanics is the branch of applied physics dealing with motion and forces
producing motion. It is an area of science concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when
subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their
environment. Engineering mechanics is the science which describes and predicts the conditions
of rest or motion of bodies under the action of forces.

Abbreviated Outline of Engineering Mechanics

Engineering Mechanics

Mechanics of Solids Mechanics of Fluids

Rigid Bodies Deformable Bodies Ideal Fluids

Viscous Fluids
Statics Strength of Materials

Dynamics Compressible
Theory of Elasticity Fluids

Kinetics
Theory of Plasticity

Kinematics

Mechanics of Fluids is a branch of mechanics which deals with the study of fluids at rest (fluid
statics) and fluids in motion (fluid dynamics).

Ideal Fluids are fluids which cannot be compressed and have no viscosity. Ideal fluid is not found
in actual practice, imaginary fluid because all the fluid that exist in the environment have viscosity.
There is no ideal fluid in reality.

Viscous Fluids are fluids which are capable to resist flow. (Viscosity is the resistance of fluid to
flow.)

Compressible Fluids are fluids with variable density, these are fluids that can be compressed.
Although there is no such thing in reality as an incompressible fluid, we use this term where the
change in density with pressure is so small as to be negligible.
Mechanics of Solids is the branch of continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of solid
materials, especially their motion and deformation under the action of forces, temperature changes,
phase changes, and other external or internal agents.

Deformable Bodies are any object/body that changes its shape and/or volume while being acted
upon by any kind of external force.

Rigid bodies are bodies with definite amount of matter the parts of which are fixed in position
relative to one another. Solid bodies are never rigid, they deform under the action of forces. In
those cases where this deformation is negligible compared to the size of the body, the body may
be considered to be rigid.

Strength of Materials deals with the study of internal reactions or behavior of solid objects
subjected to external forces.

Elasticity is the property of solid materials to deform under the application of an external force
and to regain their original shape after the force is removed. The external force applied on a
specified area is known as stress, while the amount of deformation is called the strain.

Theory of Elasticity is devoted to this solution of engineering problems that can be approximated
by means of the linear models governed by Hooke’s Law.

Plasticity is the property of the material not to return to its original shape when unloaded but will
retain a permanent deformation after subjecting to an intermediate load

Theory of Plasticity is a theory that is used to describe the plastic behavior of materials.

Dynamics is the branch of Engineering Mechanics, which deals with the forces and their effects,
while acting upon the bodies in motion.

Kinetics is the branch of Dynamics, which deals with the bodies in motion due to the application
of forces.

Kinematics is the branch of Dynamics, which deals with the bodies in motion, without any
reference to the forces which are responsible for the motion.

Statics is the branch of Engineering Mechanics, which deals with the forces and their effects,
while acting upon the bodies at rest.

Fundamental Concepts and Axioms

‘
Length applies to the linear dimension of a straight line

Mass is invariant property of a body which measures its resistance to change or the amount of
matter in a body

Force is the action exerted by one body upon another (maybe a push or a pull )

Example units of force Dyne, (N) Newton , (lb) pounds

𝑐𝑚 𝑚 𝑓𝑡
dyne is equivalent to g 2 , Newton is equivalent to kg 2 , pounds is equal to slug 2
𝑠 𝑠 𝑠
Characteristics of a Force

1. Magnitude
2. Direction or sense
3. Point of application
4. Line of action

Principle of Transmissibility

The principle of transmissibility of a force states that the external effect of a force on a rigid body
is the same for all points of application along its line of action. Therefore, the point of application
of a force on a rigid body can be moved anywhere along its line of action without changing the
analysis.

Note: Principle of transmissibility applies only to the external effect of a force on the same rigid
body.

Video Link for Principle of Transmissibility (The videos describe what the principle of
transmissibility is and how it is used in engineering statics.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJ2_RdhT5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjFunNWJplI

Force Systems

Forces System is any arrangement of two or more forces that acts on a body or on a group of
related bodies.

Coplanar are forces whose lines of action of all the forces in a force system lie in one plane,
otherwise they are non-coplanar.

Coplanar Non-Coplanar

Concurrent forces are forces whose lines of action pass through a common point.
Parallel Forces are forces whose lines of action are parallel

Axioms of Mechanics

1. Parallelogram Law. The Resultant of two forces is the diagonal formed on the vectors of
these forces.
2. Two forces are in equilibrium only when equal in magnitude, opposite in direction and
collinear in action.
3. A set of forces in equilibrium may be added to any system of forces without changing the
effect of the original system.
4. Action and reaction forces are equal but oppositely directed.

Units and Dimensions

System Force mass acceleration

Gravitational English (fps) pounds (lb) slug ft/s2
Absolute Metric (cgs) dyne g cm/s2
Absolute Metric (MKS) Newton (N) kg m/s2

Types of Quantities

1. Scalar – quantities which possess magnitude only (e.g area, energy, time)
2. Vector – quantities with magnitude and direction (e.g. forces, displacement, velocity)
3. Tensor – quantities that possess magnitude but require two or more directional aspects to
describe them completely, or which has magnitude, direction, and a plane in which it
acts. (e.g. inertia tensor, stress, strain)

Introduction to Free Body Diagram (FBD)

FBD is a sketch of the isolated body which shows only the forces acting upon it by the removed
element.

Action Forces or Applied Forces are forces acting on the isolated or free body

Reaction Forces are those exerted by the free body upon other bodies
Video Links for Free Body Diagrams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDis6HbXxjg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIoiXgT7IX8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bwwq1munB0
Problem Solving Guide

1. Read and understand the problem

2. Identify the required.
3. Make or draw a free body diagram (FBD)
4. Incorporate the given data and the unknown on the FBD
5. Identify the principles/ laws/ theories useful to solve the problem
6. Formulate an equation
7. Simplify
8. Check (Computational and Dimensional)

Dimensional Checks (The equations used in engineering computations must be dimensionally

homogenous; that is the units on each side must be of the same dimensional form.)

References:
• Singer, F.L. (1970), Engineering Mechanics, 2nd Edition, Harper and Row, New York
• Timoshenko, S., Young, D.H., Engineering Mechanics, 4th Edition, Mc Graw Hill, New York
• Hibbeler, R.C. Engineering Mechanics (Statics) 12th Edition, Prentice Hall
• Merriam, Engineering Mechanics (Statics)
• Singer, F.L., Engineering Mechanics, 3rd Edition, Harper and Row New York
• Singer, F.L., Pytel, A., Strength of Materials, 4th Edition, Harper Collins Publisher Inc.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJ2_RdhT5k
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjFunNWJplI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDis6HbXxjg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIoiXgT7IX8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bwwq1munB0
• http://www.pitt.edu/~qiw4/Academic/ENGR0135/Chapter5-2.pdf
• https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/determine-resultant-
coplanar-concurrent-force-system-shown-compute-magnitude-sense-angle-i-q6614633

Prepared by:

Engr. JOHN R. ORINGO