MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES

SYEDA AMNA IQBAL

BSPT, MSPT, DPT
LECTURER KINESIOLOGY
Learning Objectives:

By the end of the session, DPT semester 1 students will be able to:
 Enlist the principles of mechanics
 Describe force system and its units
 Describe Tension
WHAT IS FORCE ?
Definition

 Force is a physical quantity that tends to

change the state of an object (e.g.,
accelerate or decelerate) or change the
shape of an object
Cont.

 Force can either be a push

(compression) or a pull
(tension)

 Itmay cause (start),

prevent (stop), or modify
motion
Composition of force:

1. Magnitude: proportional to the length of arrow

2. Direction: indicated by the arrow head

3. Action line(angle of pull): indicated by the angle of the arrow with

the horizontal line

4. Point of application: indicated by the tail of the arrow

TYPES OF FORCES
Internal Force
 Act on structures of the body arise from the body’s own
structure

 For e.g.
• Bone
• Muscles
• Ligaments

 Essential for Initiation of movement

Internal forces

1. Muscle force:
Muscle contraction

2. Ligament force:
Ligament pull (when the ligament is stretched)

3. Joint reaction force:

Between the articular surfaces of a joint
External forces

 External forces are pushes or pulls

on the body, arise from outside the
body

 For e.g. Gravity

 Can facilitate or restrict movements

External forces
1. Gravitational force: tends to pull the
body downwards

2. Ground reaction force: exerted on

the body by the ground

3. Friction: between contact surfaces

Cont.

1. Pressure: exerted over the area of contact between two

bodies

2. Resistance:
• Muscles must work against to produce motion
• E.g.: ex pulleys, manual resistance
• air resistance
 Characteristics of the force are
• Magnitude
• Direction
• Point of application

 SI unit of force is newton(N)

 Force= (mass)(acceleration)
F=ma
Composition of Forces
 The application of a force to body is specified by:
i) The direction of force = direction of an arrow
ii) The magnitude of the force = length of arrow
 A single force applied to the body, causes
movement in the direction of force
a) Two forces acting in the same direction and at a
common point = single force acting in that
direction + magnitude = sum of the magnitude of
the individual forces
 B)Two equal forces acting at a common point, and in
opposite directions will result in equilibrium
c) Two unequal forces acting at a common point, and in
opposite directions will result in movement in the
direction of the greatest force
the magnitude of the force = difference between the
magnitude of the two unequal forces
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 Couple

 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
Cont.

For example:
• Elbow
• Bicep and triceps together flex and extend the elbow
• Two muscles that work together to operate a joint are called a
Force Couple
• The bicep and triceps are force couples
Relation of Forces

 Usually, many forces act on the human body

simultaneously.

 It is important to know the final (combined)

effect of these forces i.e. resultant force

 Resultant force is the sum of all forces acting

on the body or body segment
 When the resultant force is zero  the force
system is said to be in equilibrium i.e. no
motion (no change in position)

 When the resultant force is not zero 

motion occurs
 Types of force system

Linear Parallel Concurrent

1) Linear force system

 When all the forces occur along the same action line

 Forces may act in the same direction or opposite direction

 May produce tension or compression effects

2) Parallel force system

 When all the forces are acting at two different points, and
parallel to each other, but do not share the same action line.

 Such Forces produce rotatory effects

3) Concurrent force system

 When all the forces meet at the same point of application

 Forces do not lie along the same line of action, but form
an angle with each other
Example
Deltoid
 Anterior fibers: flex the arm

 Posterior fibers: extend the arm

 The combined action of the

anterior and posterior fibers will
abduct the arm
CLINICAL APPLICATION OF FORCES
Out patient head halter Inpatient orthopedic traction
traction
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 until or unless an external force is applied to
it
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”.
Newton’s third law of motion

 It states that “For every action there is an equal an

opposite reaction”
TENSION
TENSION

 A system of forces tending to separate parts of a body

combined with equal and opposite forces which hold the
parts together
OR

 Tension is described as the pulling force transmitted axially

by the means of a string, a cable, chain, or similar one-
dimensional continuous object, or by each end of a rod
 Tension could be the opposite of compression

 Measured in newton (N)

 In physiology, tension and force
uses synonymously e.g.
intramuscular tension is the
force of muscle contraction

 The strength of muscle is its

ability to produce tension
ANY QUESTION