MECHANICS OF RIGID BODIES
MECHANICS
- A BRANCH OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES THAT
IS CONCERNED WITH THE STATE OF REST OR
MOTION OF BODIES SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF
FORCES.
- THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE CONCERNED WITH
THE BEHAVIOR OF BODIES THAT ARE ACTED UPON
BY FORCES.
- OLDEST OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES
3 TYPES OF MECHANICS
1. MECHANICS OF RIGID BODIES
• STATICS
• DYNAMICS
2. MECHANICS OF DEFORMABLE BODIES
3. FLUID MECHANICS
RIGID BODIES
➢ A BASIC REQUIREMENT FOR THE STUDY
OF THE MECHANICS OF DEFORMABLE BODIES AND
FLUID MECHANICS.
➢ ESSENTIAL FOR THE DESIGN AND
ANALYSIS OF MANY TYPES OF STRUCTURAL
MEMBERS, MECHANICAL COMPONENTS, ELECTRICAL
DEVICES, ETC, ENCOUNTERED IN.
NOTE: A RIGID BODY DOES NOT DEFORM UNDER
LOAD!
STATICS
➢ IS THE STUDY WHICH DEALS WITH THE
CONDITION OF BODIES IN EQUILIBRIUM
SUBJECTED TO EXTERNAL FORCES.
➢ IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN THE FORCE
SYSTEM ACTING ON A BODY IS BALANCED, THE
SYSTEM HAS NO EXTERNAL EFFECT ON THE
BODY OR MOVES AT CONSTANT VELOCITY, THE
BODY IS IN EQUILIBRIUM.
DYNAMICS
➢ IS ALSO A BRANCH OF MECHANICS IN
WHICH THE FORCES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE
BODIES IN MOTION ARE STUDIED.
➢ SUBDIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS:
• KINEMATICS - DEALS WITH THE
GEOMETRY OF MOTION OF BODIES
WITHOUT AND APPLICATION OF EXTERNAL
FORCES.
• KINETICS - DEALS WITH THE
MOTION OF BODIES WITH THE APPLICATION
OF EXTERNAL FORCES.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
✔MASS: THE QUANTITY OF THE MATTER
POSSESSED BY A BODY IS CALLED MASS. THE MASS
OF A BODY CANNOT CHANGE UNLESS THE BODY IS
DAMAGED AND PART OF IT IS PHYSICALLY
SEPARATED.
✔LENGTH: IT IS A CONCEPT TO MEASURE LINEAR
DISTANCES.
✔ TIME: TIME IS THE MEASURE OF SUCCESSION OF
EVENTS. THE SUCCESSIVE EVENT SELECTED IS THE
ROTATION OF EARTH ABOUT ITS OWN AXIS AND
THIS IS CALLED A DAY.
✔SPACE: ANY GEOMETRIC REGION IN WHICH THE
STUDY OF A BODY HAS BEEN DONE IS CALLED
SPACE.
✔ DISPLACEMENT: IT IS DEFINED AS THE DISTANCE
MOVED BY A BODY/PARTICLE IN THE SPECIFIED
DIRECTION.
✔VELOCITY: THE RATE OF CHANGE OF
DISPLACEMENT WITH RESPECT TO TIME IS
DEFINED AS VELOCITY.
✔ACCELERATION: IT IS THE RATE OF CHANGE OF
VELOCITY WITH RESPECT TO TIME.
✔MOMENTUM: THE PRODUCT OF MASS AND
VELOCITY IS CALLED MOMENTUM.
MOMENTUM = MASS × VELOCITY
✔PARTICLE: IT CAN BE DEFINED AS AN OBJECT
WHICH HAS ONLY MASS AND NO SIZE.
 • SUCH A BODY CANNOT EXIST
THEORETICALLY.
• WHEN WE DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS
INVOLVING DISTANCES CONSIDERABLY LARGER
COMPARED TO THE SIZE OF THE BODY, THE BODY
MAY BE TREATED AS PARTICLE.
✔FORCE: REPRESENTS THE ACTION OF ONE BODY
TO OTHER. IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS
MAGNITUDE, DIRECTION OF ACTION AND ITS
POINT OF APPLICATION.
FORCE IS A VECTOR QUANTITY.
✔ NEWTONIAN MECHANICS: LENGTH, TIME AND
MASS ARE ABSOLUTE CONCEPTS INDEPENDENT OF
EACH OTHER.
FORCE IS DERIVED CONCEPT NOT INDEPENDENT OF
OTHER FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS.
FORCE ACTING ON A BODY IS RELATED TO MASS OF
THE BODY AND THE VARIATION OF ITS VELOCITY
WITH TIME.
FORCE CAN ALSO OCCUR BETWEEN BODIES THAT
ARE PHYSICALLY SEPARATED (EX.
GRAVITATIONAL, ELECTRICAL AND MAGNETIC
FORCES.)
MASS IS A PROPERTY OF MATTER THAT DOES NOT
CHANGE FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER.
WEIGHT REFERS TO THE GRAVITATIONAL
ATTRACTION OF THE EARTH ON A BODY OR
QUANTITY OF MASS. ITS MAGNITUDE DEPENDS
UPON THE ELEVATION AT WHICH THE MASS IS
LOCATED.
MECHANICS IDEALIZATION
TO SIMPLIFY APPLICATION OF THEORY
➢ PARTICLE - IS A BODY WITH MASS BUT
WITH DIMENSIONS THAT CAN BE NEGLECTED
• SIZE IS NEGLIGIBLE COMPARED TO
MOTION.
• ALL FORCES ACT THROUGH CENTER OF
GRAVITY.
• NEGLECT ROTATION ABOUT CENTER OF
GRAVITY
➢ RIGID BODIES
• POINTS OF APPLICATION, AND LINE OF
ACTION OF FORCES ARE IMPORTANT.
• ROTATION AND MOMENTS ABOUT
CENTER OF GRAVITY ARE IMPORTANT
MECHANICS IDEALIZATION
➢ CONCENTRATED FORCE
- EFFECT OF A LOADING IS ASSUMED TO ACT
AT A POINT (CG) ON A BODY.
- PROVIDED THE AREA OVER WHICH THE
LOAD IS APPLIED IS VERY SMALL
COMPARED TO THE OVERALL SIZE OF THE
BODY.
MECHANICS: NEWTON’S THREE LAWS
OF MOTION
BASIS OF FORMULATION OF RIGID BODY
MECHANICS
▪ FIRST LAW: (LAW OF INERTIA)
“A PARTICLE ORIGINALLY AT REST, OR MOVING
IN A STRAIGHT LINE WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY,
TENDS TO REMAIN IN THIS STATE PROVIDED THE
PARTICLE IS NOT SUBJECTED TO AN
UNBALANCED FORCE.“
▪ SECOND LAW: (LAW OF ACCELERATION)
“A PARTICLE OF MASS (A) 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.“
▪ THIRD LAW: (LAW OF INTERACTION)
“FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL AND
OPPOSITE REACTION. THE MUTUAL FORCES OF
ACTION AND REACTION BETWEEN TWO PARTICLES
ARE EQUAL, OPPOSITE AND COLLINEAR. “
MECHANICS: NEWTON’S LAW OF
GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION
WEIGHT OF A BODY (GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
ACTING ON A BODY) IS REQUIRED TO BE COMPUTED
IN STATICS AS WELL AS DYNAMICS.
THIS LAW GOVERNS THE GRAVITATIONAL
ATTRACTION BETWEEN ANY TWO PARTICLES.
WEIGHT OF A BODY (IN N) = MASS OF THE BODY (IN
GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION OF THE EARTH KG) × ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY (IN M/SEC 2)

WEIGHT OF A BODY: IF A PARTICLE IS LOCATED AT

OR NEAR THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH, THE ONLY
SIGNIFICANT GRAVITATIONAL FORCE IS THAT
BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE PARTICLE.

UNITS

MEASUREMENTS ARE ALWAYS MADE IN

COMPARISON WITH CERTAIN STANDARDS.

FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE SAY THAT CLOTH PIECE IS

2.5 METRES LONG, THE MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH
IS WITH RESPECT TO A SCALE ON WHICH
GRADUATIONS ARE MARKED. IN TURN, THE
GRADUATION OF THE SCALE MUST HAVE BEEN
MADE ACCORDING TO A NATIONAL OR AN
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD.

THE STANDARD SO CHOSEN FOR THE

MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH IS CALLED THE UNIT
OF LENGTH. IN THIS EXAMPLE, ‘METRE’ IS THE
UNIT OF LENGTH.

SIMILARLY, FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TIME,

WEIGHT, CURRENT, SPEED ETC, DIFFERENT UNITS
ARE USED.

EACH PHYSICAL QUANTITY IS MEASURED FOR THE

PURPOSE OF ANALYSIS, STUDY, COMPARISON,
EXPERIMENTATION/RESULTS, DESIGN ETC. WITH
THE HELP OF MEASURING UNITS BY COMPARISON.
THERE ARE FOUR SYSTEMS OF UNITS USED FOR THE
MEASUREMENT OF PHYSICAL QUANTITIES.
➢ FPS (FOOT POUND SECOND)SYSTEM
➢ CGS (CENTIMETRE GRAM SECOND)
SYSTEM
➢ MKS (METER KILOGRAM SECOND)SYSTEM
➢ SI (SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL Dꞌ UNITS THE
FRENCH NAME)
DIMENSION
THE BRANCH OF MATHEMATICS DEALING WITH
DIMENSIONS OF QUANTITIES IS CALLED
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. THERE ARE TWO
SYSTEMS OF DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS:
➢ ABSOLUTE SYSTEM (MLT SYSTEM)
- A SYSTEM OF UNITS DEFINED ON THE BASIS
OF LENGTH, TIME AND MASS IS REFERRED
TO AS AN ABSOLUTE SYSTEM.
- ACCORDING TO SI SYSTEM OF UNITS, THREE
BASIC UNITS METRE, SECOND AND
KILOGRAM CAN BE USED. IN MLT SYSTEM,
M REFERS TO MASS, L REFERS TO LENGTH
AND T REFERS TO TIME.

- THE FUNDAMENTAL UNITS OF THE SYSTEM

ARE METRE (M) FOR LENGTH, KILOGRAM
(KG) FOR MASS AND SECOND (S) FOR TIME.
- THE UNIT FOR FORCE IS NEWTON (N). ONE
NEWTON IS THE AMOUNT OF FORCE
REQUIRED TO INDUCE AN ACCELERATION
OF 1 M/SEC 2 ON ONE KG MASS.
➢ GRAVITATIONAL SYSTEM (FLT SYSTEM)
- A SYSTEM OF UNITS DEFINED ON THE BASIS
OF LENGTH, TIME AND FORCE IS
REFERRED TO AS A GRAVITATIONAL
SYSTEM.
 - IN THIS SYSTEM, FORCE IS MEASURED IN A EXAMPLE: MOVEMENT OF A BODY WITHOUT
GRAVITATIONAL FIELD. THUS, ITS ROTATION.
MAGNITUDE DEPENDS UPON THE
LOCATION WHERE THE MEASUREMENT IS ➢ SLIDING VECTOR: HAS A UNIQUE LINE OF ACTION
MADE. FLT SYSTEM REFERS TO THE FORCE IN SPACE BUT NOT A UNIQUE POINT OF
LENGTH TIME SYSTEM. APPLICATION.

SCALARS AND VECTORS EXAMPLE: EXTERNAL FORCE ON A RIGID BODY

VARIOUS QUANTITIES USED IN ENGINEERING - PRINCIPLE OF TRANSMISSIBILITY

MECHANICS MAY BE GROUPED INTO SCALARS AND
- IMP IN RIGID BODIES
VECTORS.

➢ SCALAR QUANTITY: A QUANTITY IS SAID

TO BE SCALAR IF IT IS COMPLETELY DEFINED BY
ITS MAGNITUDE ALONE.
EXAMPLES OF SCALAR QUANTITIES ARE:
AREA, LENGTH, MASS, MOMENT OF INERTIA,
ENERGY, POWER, VOLUME AND WORK ETC.
➢ FIXED VECTOR: FOR WHICH A UNIQUE
POINT OF APPLICATION IS SPECIFIED.
EXAMPLE: ACTION OF A FORCE ON A DEFORMABLE
BODIES

VECTOR REPRESENTATION

➢ VECTOR QUANTITY: A QUANTITY IS SAID ➢ VECTOR A IN THE PLANE (RECTANGULAR FORM)

TO BE VECTOR IF IT IS COMPLETELY DEFINED ONLY
WHEN ITS MAGNITUDE AS WELL AS DIRECTION A = AXI +AY J
ARE SPECIFIED.

➢ VECTOR A IN THE PLANE (POLAR FORM)

EXAMPLES OF VECTOR QUANTITIES INCLUDE:
A = |A| ∠ Θ
FORCE, MOMENT, MOMENTUM, DISPLACEMENT,
VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION.
➢ |A| IS THE MAGNITUDE OF VECTOR A

|A| = √[(AX)2 + (AX)2]

➢ THE DIRECTION IS THE ANGLE (Θ)

Θ = TAN−1 (AY/AX)

VECTORS

➢ FREE VECTORS: WHOSE ACTION IS NOT

CONFINED TO OR ASSOCIATED WITH A UNIQUE
LINE IN SPACE.

EQUIVALENT FORCE SYSTEMS
RESOLUTION OF A FORCE INTO COMPONENTS
➢ SINGLE FORCE F ACTING ON A PARTICLE MAY BE
REPLACED BY TWO OR MORE FORCES THAT,
TOGETHER, HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON THE
PARTICLE, CALLED COMPONENT OF FORCE .
➢ EACH FORCE F CAN BE RESOLVED INTO AN
INFINITE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE SETS OF
COMPONENTS.
TWO CASES IN RESOLVING THE FORCE F INTO
COMPONENTS:
➢ ONE OF THE TWO COMPONENTS, P, IS KNOWN. WE
OBTAIN THE SECOND COMPONENT, Q, BY APPLYING
THE TRIANGLE RULE AND JOINING THE TIP OF P TO
THE TIP OF F. WE CAN DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE
AND DIRECTION OF Q GRAPHICALLY OR BY
TRIGONOMETRY.
ONCE WE HAVE DETERMINED Q, BOTH
COMPONENTS P AND Q SHOULD BE APPLIED AT A.
TWO CASES IN RESOLVING THE FORCE F INTO
COMPONENTS:
➢ THE LINE OF ACTION OF EACH COMPONENT IS
KNOWN. WE OBTAIN THE MAGNITUDE AND SENSE
OF THE COMPONENTS BY APPLYING THE
PARALLELOGRAM LAWAND DRAWING LINES
THROUGH THE TIP OF F THAT ARE PARALLEL TO
THE GIVEN LINE OF ACTION. THIS PROCESS LEADS
TO
TWO WELL-DEFINED COMPONENTS, P AND Q,
WHICH CAN BE DETERMINED GRAPHICALLY OR
COMPUTED TRIGONOMETRICALLY BY APPLYING
THE LAW OF SINES.
ADDING FORCE BY COMPONENTS
➢ ADDING FORCES USING THEIR COMPONENTS,
ESPECIALLY RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS. THIS
METHOD IS OFTEN THE MOST CONVENIENT WAY TO
ADD FORCES AND IN PRACTICE, IS THE MOST
COMMON APPROACH. RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
OF A FORCE: UNIT VECTORS
➢ A FORCE F RESOLVED INTO A COMPONENT FX
ALONG THE X-AXIS AND A COMPONENT FY ALONG
THE Y-AXIS. THE PARALLELOGRAM DRAWN TO
OBTAIN THE TWO COMPONENTS IS A RECTANGLE,
AND FX AND FY ARE CALLED RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS.
FORCE IN TERMS OF UNIT VECTORS
➢ TO SIMPLIFY WORKING WITH RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS, TWO VECTORS OF UNIT MAGNITUDE,
DIRECTED RESPECTIVELY ALONG THE POSITIVE X
AND Y AXES CAN BE USED. THESE VECTORS ARE
CALLED UNIT VECTORS AND ARE DENOTED BY I
AND J, RESPECTIVELY.
➢ NOTE THAT WE CAN OBTAIN THE RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS FX AND FY OF A FORCE F BY
MULTIPLYING RESPECTIVELY THE UNIT VECTORS I
AND J BY APPROPRIATE SCALARS. WE HAVE

SCALAR COMPONENTS
➢ DENOTING BY F THE MAGNITUDE OF THE FORCE
F AND BY Θ THE ANGLE BETWEEN F AND THE X
AXIS, WHICH IS MEASURED COUNTERCLOCKWISE
FROM THE POSITIVE X AXIS, THE SCALAR
COMPONENTS OF F MAY BE EXPRESSED AS
DIRECTION OF A FORCE
➢ WHEN A FORCE F IS DEFINED BY ITS
RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS FX AND FY, THE
ANGLE Θ DEFINING ITS DIRECTION CAN BE FOUND
FROM
ADDITION OF FORCES BY SUMMING X AND Y
COMPONENTS
➢ WHEN ADDING THREE OR MORE FORCES, WE
CANNOT OBTAIN ANY PRACTICAL TRIGONOMETRIC
SOLUTION FROM THE FORCE POLYGON THAT
DEFINES THE RESULTANT OF THE FORCES.
➢ THE BEST APPROACH IS TO OBTAIN AN
ANALYTIC SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM BY
RESOLVING EACH FORCE INTO TWO RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS.
➢ WHEN SEVERAL FORCES ARE ACTING ON A
PARTICLE, WE OBTAIN THE
SCALAR COMPONENTS RX AND RY OF THE
RESULTANT R BY ADDING ALGEBRAICALLY THE
CORRESPONDING SCALAR COMPONENTS OF THE
GIVEN FORCES.
RESULTANT OF FORCES
➢ EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT TWO
FORCES P AND Q ACTING ON A PARTICLE A CAN BE
REPLACE BY A SINGLE FORCE R THAT HAS THE
SAME EFFECT ON THE PARTICLE. THIS FORCE IS
CALLED THE RESULTANT OF THE FORCES P AND Q.
➢ THIS METHOD FOR FINDING THE RESULTANT IS
KNOWN AS THE PARALLELOGRAM LAW FOR THE
ADDITION OF TWO FORCES RESULTANT OF
CONCURRENT FORCES
➢ EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT TWO
FORCES P AND Q ACTING ON A PARTICLE A CAN BE
REPLACE BY A SINGLE FORCE R THAT HAS THE
SAME EFFECT ON THE PARTICLE. THIS FORCE IS
CALLED THE RESULTANT OF THE FORCES P AND Q.
➢ THIS METHOD FOR FINDING THE RESULTANT IS
KNOWN AS THE PARALLELOGRAM LAW FOR THE
ADDITION OF TWO FORCES. RESULTANT OF
PARALLEL FORCES
➢ A PARALLEL FORCE SYSTEM IS ONE IN WHICH
THE ACTION LINES OF ALL THE FORCES ARE
PARALLEL. THE RESULTANT OF SUCH A SYSTEM IS
DETERMINED WHEN IT IS KNOWN IN MAGNITUDE,
DIRECTION, AND POSITION.
➢ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONCURRENT AND
A PARALLEL FORCE SYSTEM IS THAT IN THE
FORMER THE POSITION OF THE RESULTANT IS
KNOWN BY INSPECTION WHEREAS IN THE LATTER
IT IS NOT.

THE PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS

➢ APPLICATION: IN SOME CASES IT IS MORE

CONVENIENT TO DETERMINE THE MOMENT OF A
FORCE FROM THE SUM OF THE MOMENTS OF ITS
COMPONENTS RATHER THAN FROM THE FORCE
ITSELF.

MOMENT OF A FORCE FOR EXAMPLE, SUPPOSE A FORCE F, MAKING AN

ANGLE WITH THE X AXIS, PASSESTHROUGH A
➢ THE MOMENT OF A FORCE ABOUT AN AXIS OR
POINTA HAVING THE COORDINATES(X, Y).
LINE IS THE MEASURE OF ITS ABILITY TO PRODUCE
TURNING OR TWISTING ABOUT THE AXIS.

➢ THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MOMENT OF A FORCE

ABOUT AN AXIS WHICH IS PERPENDICULAR TO A
PLANE CONTAINING THE LINE OF ACTION OF THE
FORCE IS DEFINED AS THE PRODUCT OF THE FORCE
AND THE PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE FROM THE
AXIS TO THE LINE OF ACTION OF THE FORCE (M =
FD). THE DISTANCE D IS FREQUENTLY CALLED THE
MOMENT ARM OF THE FORCE.

➢ THE AXIS OF MOMENTS, WHICH IS

PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF FORCES,
APPEARS AS A POINT COMMONLY CALLED THE
CENTER OF MOMENTS.
THE PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS
➢ IN THIS CASE IT IS CONVENIENT TO CALCULATE
THE MOMENT ARM D. BY RESOLVING THE FORCE
INTO ITS COMPONENTS FX AND FY AT A, THE
MOMENT ARM OF FX ABOUT O IS THE COORDINATE
DISTANCE Y, AND THE MOMENT ARM OF FY ABOUT
O IS THE COORDINATE DISTANCE X. THEN THE
MOMENT OF F IS EXPRESSED BY :

THE PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS

➢ VARIGNON’STHEOREM. THE MOMENT OF A

FORCE IS EQUIVALENT TO THE SUM OF THE
MOMENTS OF ITS COMPONENTS.

COUPLES
➢ COUPLE IS MADE UP OF TWO EQUAL, PARALLEL,
OPPOSITELY DIRECTED FORCES.
➢ THEIR MOMENT SUM IS CONSTANT AND
INDEPENDENT OF THE MOMENT CENTER. THIS IS
PROVED BY SELECTING MOMENT CENTERS AT A
AND B (SEE FIGURE) TO GIVE RESPECTIVELY
F · D = F (D + A) – F (A)
COUPLES
➢ COUPLE IS MADE UP OF TWO EQUAL, PARALLEL,
OPPOSITELY DIRECTED FORCES.
➢ THE MOMENT OF A COUPLE C IS EQUAL TO THE
PRODUCT OF ONE OF THE FORCES COMPOSING THE
COUPLE MULTIPLIED BY THE PERPENDICULAR
DISTANCE BETWEEN THEIR ACTION LINES.
C=F·D
EQUILIBRIUM
CONDITION FOR THE EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE
➢ A PARTICLE IS SAID TO BE IN EQUILIBRIUM IF IT REMAINS
AT REST IF ORIGINALLY AT REST, OR HAS A CONSTANT
VELOCITY IF ORIGINALLY IN MOTION.
➢ TO MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM, IT IS NECESSARY TO SATISFY
NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION, WHICH REQUIRES THE
RESULTANT FORCE ACTING ON A PARTICLE TO BE EQUAL TO
ZERO, STATED MATHEMATICALLY AS Σ F = 0 WHERE Σ F IS THE
VECTOR SUM OF ALL THE FORCES ACTING ON THE PARTICLE.
➢ THIS FOLLOWS FROM NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF
MOTION, WHICH CAN BE WRITTEN AS Σ F = MA. AND SINCE
THIS FORCE SYSTEM IS EQUAL TO ZERO, THEN MA = 0, AND
THEREFORE THE PARTICLE’S ACCELERATION A= 0
EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE
✔WHEN THE RESULTANT OF ALL THE FORCES ACTING ON A
PARTICLE IS ZERO, THE PARTICLE IS IN EQUILIBRIUM.
✔A PARTICLE ACTED UPON BY TWO FORCES ISIN
EQUILIBRIUM IF THE TWO FORCES HAVE THE SAME
MAGNITUDE AND THE SAME LINE OF ACTION BUT OPPOSITE
SENSE
✔A CASE OF EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE ISREPRESENTED IN
FIGURE (A), WHERE FOUR FORCES ARE SHOWN ACTING ON
PARTICLEA.
✔RESOLVING EACH FORCE F INTO RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS, WE HAVE
(FXI+ FYJ)= 0 OR (FX)I+(FY)J = 0
✔ WE CONCLUDE THAT THE NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT
CONDITIONS FOR THE EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE ARE
(SCALAR EQUATIONS) FX = 0 FY = 0
✔WHEN THE FORCE AND THE COUPLE ARE BOTH EQUAL TO
ZERO, THE EXTERNAL FORCES FORM A SYSTEM EQUIVALENT
TO ZERO, AND THE RIGID BODY IS SAID TO BE IN
EQUILIBRIUM.
F = 0 MO = D X F = 0
✔FOR A RIGID BODY IN EQUILIBRIUM, THE SYSTEM OF
EXTERNAL FORCES IMPARTS NO TRANSLATIONAL
ROTATIONAL MOTION TO THE BODY.
✔IN ADDITION TO THE FORCES APPLIED TO A STRUCTURE, ITS
SUPPORTS EXERT REACTIONS ON IT. SPECIFIC
REACTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH TYPE OF SUPPORT.
EQUATIONS OF EQUILIBRIUM IN TWO DIMENSIONS
∑ FX = 0 ∑ FY = 0 ∑M=0
WHERE A IS ANY POINT IN THE PLANE OF THE STRUCTURE.
THESE THREE EQUATIONS CAN BE SOLVED FOR NO MORE
THAN THREE UNKNOWNS.
REACTIONS FOR A TWO-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE
▪ REACTIONS EQUIVALENT TO A FORCE OF UNKNOWN
DIRECTION AND MAGNITUDE.
SUPPORTS AND CONNECTIONS CAUSING REACTIONS OF THIS
TYPE INCLUDE FRICTIONLESS PINS IN FITTED HOLES, HINGES,
AND ROUGH SURFACES. REACTIONS OF THIS GROUP INVOLVE
TWO UNKNOWNS AND ARE USUALLY REPRESENTED BY THEIR
X AND Y COMPONENTS
▪ REACTIONS EQUIVALENT TO A FORCE AND A COUPLE
.THESE REACTIONS ARE CAUSED BY FIXED SUPPORTS THAT
OPPOSE ANY MOTION OF THE FREE BODY AND THUS
CONSTRAIN IT COMPLETELY. REACTIONS OF THIS GROUP
INVOLVE THREE UNKNOWNS USUALLY CONSISTING OF THE
TWO COMPONENTS OF THE FORCE AND
THE MOMENT OF THE COUPLE.
STATICALLY INDETERMINATE REACTIONS AND PARTIAL
CONSTRAINTS
▪ COMPLETELY CONSTRAINED AND STATICALLY
DETERMINATE.
THE TYPES OF SUPPORTS USED WERE SUCH THAT THE RIGID
BODY COULD NOT POSSIBLY
MOVE UNDER THE GIVEN LOADS OR UNDER ANY OTHER
LOADING CONDITIONS. IN SUCH CASES, THE RIGID BODY IS
SAID TO BE COMPLETELY CONSTRAINED. THE REACTIONS
CORRESPONDING TO THESE SUPPORTS INVOLVED THREE
UNKNOWNS AND COULD BE DETERMINED BY SOLVING THE
THREE EQUATIONS OF EQUILIBRIUM.
▪ STATICALLY INDETERMINATE
A SITUATION IN WHICH THE NUMBER OF UNKNOWNS
EXCEED THE NUMBER OF EQUILIBRIUM EQUATIONS
AVAILABLE.
▪ PARTIALLY CONSTRAINED.
A SITUATION IN WHICH THE CONSTRAINTS PROVIDED BY THE
SUPPORTS ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO KEEP THE OBJECT FROM
MOVING. IN SUCH A CASE, THE THREE EQUATIONS OF
EQUILIBRIUM ARE NOT SATISFIED. THERE ARE FEWER
UNKNOWNS THAN EQUATIONS
▪ IMPROPERLY CONSTRAINED
A RIGID BODY IS IMPROPERLY CONSTRAINED WHENEVER THE
SUPPORTS (EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY PROVIDE A SUFFICIENT
NUMBER OF REACTIONS) ARE ARRANGED IN SUCH A WAY
THAT THE REACTIONS MUST BE EITHER CONCURRENT OR
PARALLEL.
A FURTHER NOTE ON DRAWING A FREE-BODY DIAGRAM.
DRAW OUTLINED SHAPE. IMAGINE THE PARTICLE TO BE
ISOLATED OR CUT “FREE” FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS BY
DRAWING ITS OUTLINED SHAPE.
SHOW ALL FORCES. INDICATE ON THIS SKETCH ALL THE
FORCES THAT ACT ON THE PARTICLE.
THESE FORCES CAN BE ACTIVE FORCES, WHICH TEND TO SET
THE PARTICLE IN MOTION, OR THEY CAN BE REACTIVE
FORCES WHICH ARE THE RESULT OF THE CONSTRAINTS OR
SUPPORTS THAT TEND TO PREVENT MOTION.