Engineering Mechanics - Module I

Mechanics can be defined as the branch of physics concerned with the state of rest or motion
of bodies that subjected to the action of forces.

 RIGID BODY

A rigid body may be defined as a body in which the relative positions of any two
particles do not change under the action of forces means the distance between two
points/particles remain same before and after applying external forces.

OR

A body which does not deform under the influence of forces is known as a rigid body. For a
rigid body, relative positions of A’B’ and AB remains same before and after the application
of forces

 Rigid Body Mechanics

Rigid Body Mechanics can be divided into two branches.

1) Statics: It is the branch of mechanics that deals with the study of forces acting on a
body in equilibrium. Either the body at rest or in uniform motion is called statics
2) Dynamics: It is the branch of mechanics that deals with the study of forces on body
in motion is called dynamics. It is further divided into two branches.

 Force

Force may be defined as any action that tends to change the state of rest or motion of a
body to which it is applied. The three quantities required to completely define force are called
its specification or characteristics.

1. Magnitude 3. Direction of application/Line of action

2. Point of application

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Force is a vector quantity and its unit is Newton (N) in S.I. systems and dyne in C.G.S.
system.

 Line of action of force

The direction of a force is the direction, along a straight-line through its point of
application in which the force tends to move a body when it is applied. This line is called line
of action of force.

 LAWS OF MECHANICS

The following are the fundamental laws of mechanics:

1. Newton’s Laws of Motion

2. Newton’s Law of Gravitation
3. Law of transmissibility of forces
4. Parallelogram law of forces

 Newton’s Laws of Motion Law

Law1 : A particle remains at rest or continues to move with uniform velocity if there is no
unbalanced force acting on it.

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Law 2 : The second law states that the rate of change of momentum of a body, is directly
proportional to the force applied and this change in momentum takes place in the direction of
the applied force.

Newton's second law of motion explains how an object will change velocity if acted by a
force. For a body with constant mass, the second law can also be stated in terms of an object's
acceleration. The acceleration of a particle is proportional to the vector sum of forces acting
on it and occurs along a straight line in which the force acts.

Law 3 : To every action there is always an equal reaction: or the mutual interactions of two
bodies are always equal but directed in opposite direction

 Law of Gravitation

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Two particles will be attracted towards each other along their connecting line with a
force whose magnitude is directly proportional to the product of the masses and inversely
proportional to the distance squared between the particles.

 Triangular law of forces

“If the two forces acting on a body are represented in magnitude and direction as two
sides of a triangle in order then the third side or the closing side of the triangle would be the
resultant in opposite order.”

 Polygon Law of Forces

If a number of concurrent forces acting on a rigid body are represented in magnitude

and direction by the sides of a polygon, taken in order, then their resultant is represented in
magnitude and direction by the closing side of polygon taken in reverse order.

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 Law of Transmissibility of Force

Principle of transmissibility states that a force may be applied at any point on a rigid
body along its given line of action without altering the effects of the force on which it acts.

 Parallelogram Law of Forces

If two forces acting at a point be represented in magnitude and direction by the two
adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then their resultant is represented in magnitude and
direction by lite diagonal of the parallelogram passing through that point.

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 Principle of Superposition

According to the principle of superposition of forces, when a Rigid body is acted

upon by some external forces on various points, then the resultant effect on the body is the
sum of the effects caused by each of the loads acting independently on the respective points
of the body.

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 Free body diagram :

Free body diagram is a diagram in which a rigid body is isolated from the system and
all active forces applied to the body and reactive forces as a result of mechanical contact are
represented.

Steps for Drawing Free Body Diagram :

1. A sketch of the body is drawn assuming that all supports (surfaces of contact, supporting
cables, etc.) have been removed.
2. All applied forces (including weight) and support reactions are drawn and labeled on the
sketch.
3. Apply the weight of the body to its center of gravity (if it is uniform, then apply it to the
centroid). If the sense of a reaction is unknown, it should be assumed

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 Reaction

Reaction is the opposing force that a support offers whenever it is acted upon by
external or inherent forces.

 TYPES OF SUPPORTS AND THEIR REACTIONS

Though there are many types of supports, yet the following are important from the
subject point of view:

1. Roller support
2. Pin-joint (or hinged) support
3. Fixed or built in support

1. Roller Support. A beam supported on the rollers at points A and B as shown. The
reactions in case of roller supports will be normal to the surface on which rollers are
placed.

2. Pin Joint (or Hinged) Support. A beam, which is hinged (or pin-joint) at A as. The
reaction at the hinged end may be either vertical or inclined depending upon the type of
loading.

3. Fixed or Build-in-Support. In case of fixed support, the reaction will be inclined. Also
the fixed support will provide a couple/moment.

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 Resultant
Resultant is a single force that will replace a system of forces and produces the same
effect on the rigid body as that of the system of forces.
The following sign conventions shall be used.
1. Upward forces are considered as positive, whereas the downwards as negative.
2. Forces acting towards right are considered as positive, whereas those towards left as
negative.
 Resolution Of Forces
The replacement of a single force by a several components which will be equivalent
in action to the given force is called resolution of a force. Forces can be resolved in any 2
directions. However, it is convenient to resolve them into the two orthogonal components
(mutually perpendicular directions)

 RESULTANT OF CONCURRENT COPLANAR FORCE SYSTEMS

Procedure:
1. Resolve all the forces into x and y components
2. Add the components of forces along the x and y axes with proper sense of direction.
3. Find the resultant and inclination of the forces

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 Moment

The tendency of a force to rotate the body in the direction of its application a
force about a point that is not on the line of action of the force is called Moment of force or
simply moment. Moment is also referred to as torque.

 Varignon’s Theorem or Principle of Moments

“The moment of a force about any point is equal to the sum of the moments of the
components of the force about the same point.”

 Couple
The moment produced by two equal, opposite, and non-collinear forces is called a
couple. The perpendicular distance between the lines of action of the two and opposite
parallel forces is known as arm of the couple.

 RESULTANT OF COPLANAR NON-CONCURRENT FORCE SYSTEMS

A system of several forces and couple moments acting on a body can be reduced to
equivalent single resultant force acting at a point O and a resultant couple moment.

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 EQUILBRIUM OF RIGID BODIES

A rigid body is said to be in equilibrium if the resultant of all external and reactive
forces and moments acting on it is zero.
 Lami’s Theorem
If three coplanar concurrent forces acting on a body keep it in equilibrium, then each
force is proportional to the sine of the angle between the other two.

Note: Lami’s theorem is applicable only to 3 coplanar concurrent forces in equilibrium

 General Equations of Equilibrium

1. The algebraic sum of all forces in a force system is zero.
𝑅= 𝐹=0
2. The algebraic sum of all moments in a force system is zero.
𝑀= 𝑀=0

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 Solving Equilibrium Problems

1. Draw proper Free- Body Diagram
2. Resolve all the forces into x and y components
3. Apply Equilibrium conditions along the x and y directions
4. Solve the resultant algebraic equations
In case of moments, try to select the point you take moments around such that the line of
action of at least one unknown force passes through that point. This will eliminate one
unknown from your moment equation and will result in simpler equations to work with.

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