MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES

AND MECHANICS OF POSITION

Dr. Nazia Hussain

BIOMECHANICS

Mechanics is the branch of physics that

analyzes the action of forces on particles
and mechanical systems.
Or
Biomechanics is the study of forces
applied to human body.
SUBDIVISIONS OF BIOMECHANICS

 Kinematics
Study of the description of motion, including considerations of
space and time.

 Kinetics
Study of the action of forces.
 Variables to understand the mechanical
principles of Kinetics are: -

 Motion
 Force
 Torque
 Lever
 Equilibrium
MOTION

 Displacement of a body or one of its segments from one point to

another.
 Five variables determine and describe body or segmental motion:
 1) Type of motion
 2) Location of the motion
 3) Magnitude of the motion
 4) Direction of the motion
 5) Rate of motion or rate of change at which motion occurs
TYPE OF MOTION
 Two basic types of motion: -

Translatory Motion
 When body is moving along the line that may be

straight or curved, with all parts of the body moving

in the same direction at same speed. Also known as
linear motion (may be rectilinear or curvilinear)

Angular Motion
 It involves rotation of body around a central line or

point.
LOCATION OF MOTION

Body segmental movement occurs in three

dimensional axes namely: -

 X-axis or coronal or horizontal axis

 Y-axis or longitudinal or vertical axis
 Z-axis or sagittal or anterio-posterior axis
MAGNITUDE OF MOTION
 Magnitude is known as the body displaced by the
force applied on it.

 It is measured in either linear or rotatory distance.

 Linear distance is measured in meters and

rotatory in degrees and described as range of
motion.
 DIRECTION OF MOTION
 Since joint motion occurs around the joint axes so motion has
positive and negative components.

 Similar to a common graph moving along the x-axis toward

the right is positive and toward the left is negative.

 Moving along the y-axis upward is positive and downward is

negative.

 Finally, moving along the z-axis toward the front or anteriorly

is positive and moving backward or posteriorly is negative.

 Angular motion may be clock wise or anti clock wise.

In the anatomical position movement in
the x-axis (medial-lateral axis) occurs in
the sagittal plane and provides flexion and
extension

Movement on the z-axis (anterior-

posterior axis) occurs in the frontal planes
and includes abduction and adduction;

Rotation motions occur on the y-axis

(superior-inferior or vertical axis) in the
transverse plane.
RATE OF CHANGE OF MOTION

 Velocity is the rate at which body or segment moves.

 In Translatory motion it is measured in meter per
second (m/s) and in rotatory motion it is measured in
degrees per second.
 Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
 In Translatory motion it can be measured in meter per
second square and in rotatory motion it is measured
in degrees per second square.
NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION
 It states that if a body is at rest it will remain at rest and
if a body is at uniform motion it will remain in motion
unless and until an external force is applied to it.
 This property of a body to resist the change in motion
or equilibrium is known as Inertia.
NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION

 It states that “The acceleration(a) of a body is

directly proportional to the net force(F) and
inversely proportional to the mass(m) of a
body”.
THIRD LAW OF MOTION
 It states that “For every action there is an equal an
opposite reaction”.
 For example, jumping trampoline
FORCE
 Force is a push and pull that stops or tends to stop
or produces or tends to produces the motion in
the body.
 Force alters the state of rest of a body or its
uniform motion in a straight line.
 Force has two dimensional vector quantity. It has
a magnitude and direction.
TYPES OF FORCE
There are four primary sources of force affect body
movement.
Gravity
The most prevalent force that all
structures encounter is gravity.
Muscle
Muscles produces force on their
bony segments by either active
contractions or passive stretching.
Muscles force provide motion to body segment.
Externally Applied Resistances.
These devices are numerous and whatever the
muscles must work against to produce
motion. Examples include exercise pulleys,
manual resistance

Friction
Friction is the resistance to movement
between two objects that are in contact with
each other.
Types of Friction
Static friction occurs when an object is forcefully moved
along a surface and no movement takes place. The
direction of the force is in the direction opposite of the
motion.
Kinetic friction takes place when an object just starts to
move across another surface.
Rolling friction is defined as the force that slows down the
movement of a rolling object.
Fluid friction is the restrictive force that slows down the
movement of an object in liquid
RESULTANT FORCE
 Two or more forces must act on a
common point but must pull or push in
different directions.
 The overall effect of these two different
forces is called the resultant force
FORCE PARALLELOGRAM
 Two parallel lines to the force vectors F1=4N &
F2=2N are drawn graphically to form a
parallelogram.
 The diagonal line of the parallelogram from the
point of action of the two forces represents the
resultant force vector.
FORCE COUPLE
FORCE COUPLE
 When we grasp the opposite side of the steering wheel
and turn it, you are applying a couple to the wheel.

 Two forces equal in magnitude but opposite in

direction

 Couples have pure rotational effects on the body with

no capacity to translate the body in the vertical or
horizontal direction.
TORQUE
 It’s the ability of a force to produce rotational
effect in a body or segment around the fixed
point or axis, also known as moment of force.

 Depends upon two variables: -

 The magnitude of force (F)
 Perpendicular distance (r)
T=FxD
EQUILIBRIUM
 EQUILIBRIUM
 When an object is balanced, all torques acting on
it are even
 Equilibrium is the property of a body to be
displaced or stabilize on its own when force is
acting on it.
 A state in which opposing forces or actions are
balanced so that one is not
stronger or greater than the other.
VARIABLES DETERMINING THE
BODY EQUILIBRIUM

1) Center of Gravity (COG)

2) Line of Gravity (LOG)

3) Base of Support (BOS)

CENTER OF GRAVITY
 Balance point of an object at which
torque on all sides is equal.

 It is also the point at which the planes

of the body intersect.

In the human body, the COG is located
slightly anterior to the second sacral
vertebra of an adult.

 Because body proportions change with

age, the COG of a child is higher than
that of an adult.
Center of Gravity shifts
during different standing
positions
BASE OF SUPPORT
Area under and in between the
object’s support is know as
Base of Support (BOS).
In standing position, the area
under the feet including area
between them.
Generally the larger the base of
support the more stable the
object will be.
 LINE OF GRAVITY (LOG)
 An imaginary vertical line passing through
the center of gravity. It is also known as the
line of action of the force of gravity.

 It helps define proper body alignment and

posture using various superficial landmarks

 It may shift but should fall within the base of

support to be stable.
ALIGNMENT OF BODY SEGMENTS OR BODY
SEGMENTS IN RELATION TO LOG
Through external
auditory meatus and
dens of C2 vertebra
Slightly
anterior to
thoracic spine Through cervico-
thoracic & thoraco-
lumbar junction
Through body’s COG
(anterior to S2
vertebra)
Through
acetabulum
Slightly anterior
or through knee
joint
Through ankle joint
into the ground
08/28/2021
TYPES OF EQUILIBRIUM
 Equilibrium can also be classified
according to the Location of COG and Size
of BOS.

It is divided into three types: -

• Stable Equilibrium
• Unstable Equilibrium

• Neutral Equilibrium
STABLE EQUILIBRIUM
 If the forces acting upon a body at rest tend to restore it to its
original position after it has been displaced, the body is said to be
in stable equilibrium.
 This happens because the object's center of gravity is below the
point at which it is suspended or supported. An example is a brick
laying flat on a table.
 When the widest part of the brick is in contact with the surface
(BOS), it is quite stable.
 To disturb it, the brick would have to be tipped up in any direction,
thus raising its COG.
 The same could be said of a person lying flat on the floor.
UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM
 If a body is given an initial displacement
and the forces acting upon it increase this
initial displacement, the body is said to be
in unstable equilibrium.
 Occurs when only a slight force is needed
to disturb an object.
 Balancing a pencil on its pointed end is a
good example.
 A similar example is that of a person
standing on one leg.
 NEUTRAL EQUILIBRIUM
 If, inspite of displacement of a body, the height and
position of its centre of gravity remain the same in relation
to the base, the body is said to be in neutral position.
 Exists when an object’s COG is neither raised nor lowered
when it is disturbed.
 A good example is a ball. As the ball rolls across the floor,
its COG remains the same.
 A person moving across the room while seated in a
wheelchair demonstrates neutral equilibrium.
 DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM
 Dynamic equilibrium varies between the neutral
and unstable with activities such as walking,
running and stooping etc.
 During all form of locomotion the body strives to
maintain its balance, and all of its postural reflexes
are directed towards this goal.
 Equilibrium will be unstable when the base of
support is small and becomes neutral as the BOS
becomes larger.
FIXATION
 State of immobility of a joint or limb,
or means of preventing movement in
joints
 Active fixation: obtained by

contraction of muscles
 Passive fixation: obtained by

manual pressure, straps or bandages.

 Stabilisation is relative immobility,
 For example, movement at elbow

joint we stabilise shoulder joint.