MECHANICS FOR ENGINEERS

STATICS, 13ed
Chapter 1
General Principles
Chapter Objectives

To provide an introduction to the basic quantities and

idealizations of mechanics
To give a statement of Newtons Laws of Motion and
Gravitation
To review the principles for applying the SI system of
units
To examine the standard procedures for performing
numerical calculations
To present a general guide for solving problems
Chapter Outline

1. Mechanics
2. Fundamental Concepts
3. Units of Measurement
4. The International System of Units
5. Numerical Calculations
6. General Procedure for Analysis
1.1 Mechanics

Mechanics can be divided into 3 branches:

- Rigid-body Mechanics
- Deformable-body Mechanics
- Fluid Mechanics

Rigid-body Mechanics deals with

- Statics
- Dynamics
Parts of Mechanics

Mechanics

Mechanics of
Mechanics of Mechanics of
Deformable
Rigid-Body Fluid
Body

Strength of Compresible Incompresible

Statics Dynamics Materials Fluids Fluids
1.1 Mechanics

Statics Equilibrium of bodies

At rest
Move with constant velocity

Dynamics Accelerated motion of bodies

1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Basic Quantities
1. Length
- locate the position of a point in space
2. Mass
- measure of a quantity of matter
3. Time
- succession of events
4. Force
- a push or pull exerted by one body on another
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Idealizations
1. Particles
- has a mass but size can be neglected

2. Rigid Body
- a combination of a large number of particles in which
all the particles remain at fixed distance from another,
before and after applying loads.

3. Concentrated Force
- the effect of a loading whish is
assumed to act at point on a body.
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

First Law
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
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

Second Law
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

F ma
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

Third Law
The mutual forces of action and reaction between two
particles are equal and, opposite and collinear
1.2 Fundamentals Concepts

Newtons Law of Gravitational Attraction

m1 m 2
F G
r2
F = force of gravitation between two particles
G = universal constant of gravitation
m1,m2 = mass of each of the two particles
r = distance between the two particles

mM e
Weight: W G 2
r

Letting g GM e / r yields W mg
2
1.3 Units of Measurement

SI Units
Stands for Systme International dUnits
F = ma is maintained only if 3 of the units, called base
units, are defined and the fourth unit is derived from
the equation
SI system specifies length in meters (m), time in
seconds (s) and mass in kilograms (kg)
Force unit, Newton (N), is derived from F = ma
1.3 Units of Measurement

Name Length Time Mass Force

International Meter (m) Second (s) Kilogram (kg) Newton (N)

Systems of Units
(SI)
kg .m
2
s
1.3 Units of Measurement

At the standard location,

g = 9.806 65 m/s2
For calculations, we use
g = 9.81 m/s2
Thus,
W = mg (g = 9.81m/s2)
Hence, a body of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.81 N, a
2 kg body weighs 19.62 N
1.4 The International System of Units

Prefixes
For a very large or small numerical quantity, units can
be modified by using a prefix

Each represent a multiple or sub-multiple of a unit

Eg: 4,000,000 N = 4000 kN (kilo-newton)
= 4 MN (mega- newton)
0.005m = 5 mm (milli-meter)
1.4 The International System of Units
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Dimensional Homogeneity
Each term must be expressed in the same units
Regardless of how the equation is evaluated, it
maintains its dimensional homogeneity
All terms can be replaced by a consistent set of units
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Significant Figures
Accuracy of a number is specified by the number of
significant figures it contains
A significant figure is any digit including zero
e.g. 5604 and 34.52 have four significant numbers
When numbers begin or end with zero, we make use
of prefixes to clarify the number of significant figures
e.g. 400 as one significant figure would be 0.4(103)
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Rounding Off Numbers

Accuracy obtained would never be better than the
accuracy of the problem data
Calculators or computers involve more figures in the
answer than the number of significant figures in the
data
Calculated results should always be rounded off to
an appropriate number of significant figures
1.5 Numerical Calculations

Calculations
Retain a greater number of digits for accuracy
Work out computations so that numbers that are
approximately equal
Round off final answers to three significant figures
1.6 General Procedure for Analysis

To solve problems, it is important to present work in a

logical and orderly way as suggested:
1. Correlate actual physical situation with theory
2. Draw any diagrams and tabulate the problem data
3. Apply principles in mathematics forms
4. Solve equations which are
dimensionally homogenous
5. Report the answer with
significance figures
6. Technical judgment
and common sense
Example

Convert to 2 km/h to m/s.

Solution

2 km 1000 m 1 h
2 km/h 0.556 m/s
h km 3600 s
Remember to round off the final answer to three significant figures.