CE 231/ES 033

ENGINEERING
MECHANICS:
INTRODUCTION
 To introduce the student to the
engineering applications of
Mechanics
Engineering is defined as the
Purpose of application of the mathematical and
physical sciences(physics, chemistry
the study of and biology) to the design and
Statics manufacture of items that benefit
humanity.

Difference of an engineer from a

scientist: engineers design
Difference Between Scientist and Engineer

• Scientists develop theories to understand the nature, and

engineers apply that knowledge to solve real world
problems
• Engineers have to consider the financial effects of their
work, though scientists are not concerned about them
• Engineers usually belong to the professional category,
whereas scientists often belong to academic category
 The study of the action of
forces on bodies that are
assumed to be rigid and
are at rest.
Definition of
statics:
It is a branch of Mechanics
and Mechanics is a branch
of Physics
 1. Rigid body – a definite
amount of matter the
parts of which are fixed
SOME COMMONLY in position relative to
USED TERMS each other. They are
assumed to not deform
although in reality,
bodies are never rigid.
 2. Force – that which changes
or tends to change the state
of motion of a body(external
SOME COMMONLY effect) or produce stress and
USED TERMS deformation of a body
(internal effect). It is the
product (multiplication) of
mass of the particle and its
acceleration.
 3. Characteristics of a force

1. magnitude
SOME COMMONLY 2. position of it’s a line of action
USED TERMS 3. direction or sense in which the
force acts along its line of action
That is for the force shown in the fig., magnitude of force is 4KN, direction is 40°
with the horizontal in fourth quadrant, point of application is C and line of action is
AB.
Principle of Transmissibility – states that the external effect of a force on a body is
the same for all points of application along its line of action, whereas its internal
effect is dependent of ithe point of application of the force.
Force System
- when a body has more than one force acting.
Coplanar Force system

• When all forces acting on a body lie on the same plane.

Colinear Force System

• When the lines of action of all the forces of a system act

along the same line, this force system is called collinear
force system.
Parallel Force System
Non-Coplanar
Force System
When the line of action of all the forces do
not lie in one plane.
• Concurrent Force System - The forces when extended
pass through a single point and the point is called point of
concurrency. The lines of actions of all forces meet at the
point of concurrency. Concurrent forces may or may not
be coplanar.
• Non-concurrent Force System - When the forces of a
system do not meet at a common point of concurrency,
this type of force system is called non-concurrent force
system. Parallel forces are the example of this type of
force system. Non-concurrent forces may be coplanar or
non-coplanar.
• Coplanar and concurrent force system- force system in
which all the forces lie in a single plane and meet at one
point.
Coplanar and non-concurrent force system
Non-coplanar and
concurrent force system-
In this system, the forces lie in a different
planes but pass through a single point.
Example is forces acting at the top end of an
electrical pole
Non-coplanar and non-concurrent force system