MEG 214/MEG 205

ENGINEERING MECHANICS I - STATICS

Week 1 and 2 LECTURES

- Fundamental Concepts in Engineering Mechanics.

- Vector algebra review.

 LIST OF RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS FOR MEG 214/MEG 205
1. Vector Mechanics for Engineers (Statics and Dynamics) 12th
Edition by Ferdinand P. Beer, E. Russell Johnston, Jr., David F.
Mazurek, Phillip J. Cornwell, Brian P. Self.
2. Engineering Mechanics (Statics) by Vickrant Sharma, Atul
Kumar, N. S. Boruaole, Mukesh Kumar
3. A textbook of Engineering Mechanics by R. S. Khurmi (S. Chand)
4. Engineering Mechanics (Statics) 5th Edition by J. L. Meriam, L. G.
Kraige
5. Engineering Mechanics (Statics) 13th Edition by R. C. Hibbeler
6. Vector Analysis and Introduction to Tensor Analysis. Schaum’s
Series Outline Series. McGraw-Hill. N. Y. by Murray R. S. Spiegel
AND ANY OTHER CONVENIENT TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS THAT
YOU MAY FIND HELPFUL/USEFUL
 Mechanics

• Mechanics is the science that describes and

predicts the conditions of rest or motion of
bodies under the action of forces i.e. It is the
study of the behaviour of bodies under the
action of forces
• Mechanics has several branches based on the
types of body and the nature of the behaviour
 Types of Bodies
• Particles
• Systems of Particles
• Rigid Bodies
• Deformable Solids or Systems
• Fluids i.e. Liquids and Gases
• Semi-Solids e.g. Greases
 Particles
• A particle is a point mass – a body whose
shape and dimensions are irrelevant to the
description of its motion
• .
• All forces acting on such a body are assumed
to be applied at the same point
 Systems of Particles
• This consists of two or more (may be large no
of) particles whose motion is considered
together as one single body

• It is usually characterised by a system

boundary and a mass centre
 Rigid Bodies
• This is a solid system of particles in which
distances between any two particles remain
the same even under the application of
whatever forces
• The concept of rigidity is an assumption and a
simplification of the subject matter since all
bodies in practice deform at least slightly
under the action of forces
 Deformable Solids
• The deformation of the bodies under the
action of forces are of interest no matter how
small they may be
• The internal and external effects of the
externally applied forces on the body are of
interest i.e. Whether the forces will bend, tear,
twist, shear or break the body is of interest
 Fluids
• Fluids are substances which are incapable of
sustaining shear stress
• They are capable of flowing (SHEAR) and conform
to the shape of the containing vessel
• The 2 types of Fluids are (1) Liquids which are
practically incompressible (Newtonian Fluids and
Non-Newtonian Fluids) and (2) Gases which are
certainly compressible.

Semi-Solids
• Semi-solids are a transition btw solids and liquids.
Greases are examples of semi-solid
Branches of Mechanics
Mechanics

Mechanics of
Mechanics of Mechanics of
Deformable
Rigid Bodies Fluids
Solids

Mechanics of Mechanics of Compressible Incompressible

Machines Materials Flow Flow

Statics Dynamics

Kinematics Kinetics
 Mechanics of Machines
• A machine is a device which receives energy in
some available form and utilizes it to do some
particular work
• Mechanics of machines (a branch of
mechanics) is the study of the conditions of
rest or relative motion between the various
parts of a machine and the forces which act
on them
 Statics and Dynamics
• Statics is the study of the action of forces on bodies
at rest or uniform motion. i.e. Bodies in the state of
equilibrium – No net force acting on it
• Dynamics is the study of the motion of bodies
under the action of forces. This is divided into two:-
Kinematics & Kinetics
• Kinematics – study of the motion of an object
without considering the forces causing the motion
• Kinetics – study of the action of forces that is
causing motion
 Mechanics of Materials

• This study includes:-

• Strength of Materials which involve Stress Analysis
• Theory of Elasticity and Plasticity
• Mechanics of Deformable Systems
 Mechanics of Fluids
• Mechanics of Fluids is the study of the
behaviour of fluids at rest or in motion
• Compressible Flow
• Incompressible Flow
• Gas Dynamics
 Fundamental Concepts in Mechanics -
Space

• Space is the geometric region in which events take

place
• The position of a point P in space can be defined by
3 lengths (coordinates x,y,z) measured from a
reference point (origin) in three given directions
• The SI unit of length is metre (m). Its dimension is
L.
• Distance is Scalar, while displacement is Vector
z
y

P
x
O
 Fundamental Concepts in Mechanics
Time and Mass
• Time - measure of the succession of events. The SI
unit of time is second (s). Its dimension is T. It is a
scalar quantity
• Mass is a measure of the quantity of matter in a
body. The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg). Its
dimension is M. It is a scalar quantity
• Mass is also a measure of inertia i.e. The property
of matter causing a resistance to change in motion.
Matter is a substance which occupies space.
The 3 Fundamental Units in Mechanics

• Length, Mass and Time are the 3 fundamental

units in mechanics and are arbitrarily defined
being independent of each other.
• All other units are derived from these
fundamental units
 Some Mechanical Units & Dimensions
Quantity Description SI Units Dimensions Nature
Length m L Scalar
Displacement m L Vector
Area Length2 m2 L2 Scalar
Volume Length3 m3 L3 Scalar

Time s T Scalar
Speed Length/Time m/s LT-1 Scalar
Velocity Displacement/Time m/s LT-1 Vector
Acceleration Velocity/Time m/s2 LT-2 Vector
 Some Mechanical Units Contd.
Quantity Description SI Units Dimensions Nature
Mass Kg M Scalar
Force, Weight Mass x Acceleration N (kgm/s2) MLT-2 Vector
Density Mass/Volume Kg/m3 ML-3 Scalar
Pressure, Stress Force/Area N/m2 (Pa) ML-1T-2 Vector
Momentum Mass x Velocity Kgm/s MLT-1 Vector
Work, Energy Force x Length J (Nm) ML2T-2 Scalar
Power Work/Time W (J/s) ML2L-3 Scalar
Moment Force x Length Nm ML2T-2 Vector
 Scalar and Vector Quantities
• A Scalar quantity has magnitude but no direction
• A vector quantity has both magnitude and direction
• Force and several other quantities encountered in
mechanics are vector quantities that require
extensive use of Vector Analysis.

Please Note:- Review of Vector Analysis is

recommended for this course
 Fundamental Laws in Mechanics
• There are 8 fundamental laws that will be
considered here:
• These are
- the 3 Newton’s Laws of Motion,
- the Newton’s Law of Gravitational Attraction,
- the Triangle, Parallelogram & Polygon Laws of
Vector Addition and
- the Principle of Transmissibility
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
• !st Law:
• A body remains in its state of rest or of uniform velocity
in a straight line if there is no resultant force acting on
it
• 2nd Law:
• The acceleration of a body is proportional to the
resultant force acting on it and is in the direction of the
force. F = ma
• 3rd Law:
• The forces of action and reaction between interacting
bodies are equal in magintude, opposite in direction
and collinear
 Newton’s Law of Gravitation
• The force of attraction between two given
masses M and m is proportional to the
product of their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of their distance r
apart
• F = GMm/r2
where G = Universal Gravitational Constant
= 6.673 x 10-11 m3/kgs-2
 Fundamental Laws
• The Triangle Law: If two forces acting on a
particle be represented in magnitude and direction
by two sides of a triangle taken in order, their
resultant may be represented in magnitude and
direction by the third side of the triangle taken in
opposite order

Courtesy: Murray R. S. Spiegel

This method of adding the two vectors is called the
Triangle Law of Addition of Vectors.

Similarly, if more than two vectors are to be added,

the same may be done first by adding the two vectors,
and then by adding the third vector to the resultant of
the first two and so on.

This method of adding more than two vectors is called

Polygon Law of Addition of Vectors.
 Fundamental Laws
• The Parallelogram Law: Two forces acting on a
particle may be replaced by a single force (resultant)
obtained by drawing the diagonal of the
parallelogram which has sides equal to the given
forces

• The Polygon Law: If a number of forces acting on a

particle be represented in magnitude and direction
by the sides of a polygon taken in order, their
resultant may be represented in magnitude and
direction by the closing side of the polygon taken in
opposite order
 The Principle of Transmissibility
• The condition of equilibrium or of motion of a rigid
body will remain unchanged if a force acting at a
given point of the rigid body is replaced by a force
of the same magnitude and same direction, but
acting at a different point, provided that the two
forces have the same line of action. i.e. the effect of
a given force on a rigid body remains unchanged if
the force is moved along its line of action, that is,
forces on rigid bodies are sliding forces
 The Weight W of a Body
• This is the force with which the body is attracted to
the centre of the earth
• From Gravitational Law, W = GMm/R2 = mg where
M = mass of the earth, m = mass of the body on
earth’s surface, R = the radius of the earth at the
specific location, g = GM/R2 = acceleration due to
gravity
 Mass and Weight of a Body
• The value of g = GM/R2 varies from latitude to
latitude according to the earth’s radius at each
latitude since the earth is not a perfect sphere
• It also varies from altitude to altitude on the earth’s
surface since the altitude determines the final
value of R
• Hence the weight of a body depends on its position
relative to the earth whereas the mass of the body
remains constant irrespective of its position
 Review of Vector Analysis

The 4 major topics to be reviewed are:

• Dot or Scalar Product of Two Vectors
• Cross or Vector Product of Two Vectors
• Triple Scalar Product of Three Vectors
• Triple Vector Product of Three Vectors
Courtesy: Murray R. S. Spiegel
 Scalar or Dot Product
• Scalar product P.Q = PQcosθ – a scalar quantity
where θ is the angle formed by vectors P and Q
• Scalar product is commutative i.e. P.Q = Q.P
• Scalar product is distributive i.e. P.(Q1 + Q2) = P.Q1
+ P.Q2
• The associative property does not apply to scalar
product as the expression (P.Q).S has no meaning
since P.Q is a scalar and not a vector
 Scalar or Dot Product
• The scalar products of the various possible pairs of
unit vectors i, j and k along the axes are:
• i.i = j.j = k.k = 1 and
• i.j = j.i = i.k = k.i = j.k = k.j = 0
• If P and Q are expressed in terms of their
rectangular components, then:
• P.Q = (Pxi + Pyj + Pzk).(Qxi + Qyj + Qzk) = PxQx +
PyQy + PzQz and
• P.P = (Px)2 + (Py)2 + (Pz)2
 Scalar or Dot Product
• If the angle between two vectors P and Q is θ, then
cosθ = P.Q/PQ = (PxQx + PyQy + PzQz)/PQ
• P.Q = 0 if P and Q are perpendicular i.e θ = 900
• The projection of a vector P on a given axis OL
which makes an angle θ with P is given by
= |P|cosθ.
 Cross or Vector Product
• The vector product V of two vectors P and Q is
V = PxQ = PQsinθe
where θ = angle formed by P and Q
e = unit vector perpendicular to the
plane containing P and Q and the sense is
obtained from the right-hand rule (which is why
PxQ = - QxP
 Cross or Vector Product
• Vector products are not commutative i.e
• PxQ ≠ QxP. Rather, PxQ = - (QxP)
• Vector products are distributive i.e.
• P x (Q1+Q2) = PxQ1 + PxQ2
• Vector products are not associative i.e.
• (PxQ)xS ≠ Px(QxS)
• The vector products of the various possible pairs of unit
vectors are: ixi = jxj = kxk = 0;
• ixj = k, jxi = -k, jxk = i, kxj = -i, kxi = j, ixk = -j
i
k j
 Cross or Vector Product
• The magnitude V of the vector product of A and B is
the area of the parallelogram which has A and B for
sides.

• The vector product AxB will therefore remain the

same if we replace B by a vector B’ which is
coplanar with A and B and such that the line joining
the tips of B and B’ is parallel to A i.e. V = AxB =
AxB’
 Cross or Vector Product
• The 3 vectors P, Q and V – taken in that order
– are said to form a right-handed triad though
not necessarily orthogonal
• The x, y and z-axes form a right-handed
system of orthogonal (i.e perpendicular) axes
• The unit vectors i, j and k form a right-handed
orthogonal triad
 Triple Scalar Product
• The triple scalar product of 3 vectors A, B and C is
the scalar expression A.(B X C)
• The triple scalar product is equal in absolute value
to the volume of the parallelepiped having the
vectors A, B and C for sides
• The magnitude of B x C is the area of the base
parallelogram which when multiplied by the
projection A on the vector B x C becomes the
definition of the volume of the parallelepiped

Courtesy: Murray R. S. Spiegel

 Triple Scalar Product
• If you have three vectors A, B and C:
• The triple scalar product will be zero if A, B and C
are coplanar
• Since the volume of the parallelepiped is
independent of the order in which the 3 vectors are
taken, the six mixed triple scalar products which can
be formed with A, B and C will all have the same
absolute value although not the same sign in all
cases.
 Triple Vector Product
• The triple vector product of the 3 vectors P, Q and R is
given by any one of the equivalent expressions: (A x B)
x C = - C x (A x B) = C x (B x A) - (Assignment – Prove)
• Here the parentheses must be used since an expression
A x B x C would be ambiguous because it would not
identify the two vectors to be crossed first
 Triple Vector Product
• It can be shown that the triple vector product is
equivalent to:
• (P x Q) x R = (R.P)Q – (R.Q)P
Assignment
• P x (Q x R) = (P.R)Q – (P.Q)R