Engineering Mechanics:
Statics
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Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
➢ To show how to add forces and resolve them into components
using the Parallelogram Law.
➢ To express force and position in Cartesian vector form and
explain how to determine the vector’s magnitude and direction.
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Engineering Mechanics
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build
machines, structures and other items including bridges, tunnels, roads.
The scientific method is
an empirical method of
acquiring knowledge that has
characterized the
development of science.
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Mechanics is a branch of the physical sciences that is concerned with
the state of rest or motion of bodies that are subjected to the action of
forces.
➢ rigid-body mechanics,
➢ deformable-body mechanics, and
➢ fluid mechanics Statics deals with the
equilibrium of bodies, that is,
those that are either at rest or
move with a constant velocity
➢ rigid-body mechanics,
Dynamics is concerned with the
accelerated motion of bodies.
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Concept of Forces
Mass which is a measure of
the quantity of matter that is
used to compare the action of
one body with that of another. 5
Force Vectors
➢ All the physical quantities in mechanics are measured using
scalars and vectors.
➢ A scalar is any +ve or –ve physical quantity specified completely
by its magnitude e.g., length, mass, time, volume etc.
➢ A vector is any physical quantity that requires both magnitude
and direction for complete description, e.g., force, moment,
position.
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Force Vectors
➢ It is graphical depicted by an arrow whose length represents the
magnitude; the angle θ between vector and a fixed reference
axis defines the direction of line of action.
➢ The head or tip of the arrow indicates the sense of direction of
the vector. The vector is written A.
Reference axis
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Vector Operation
(a) Multiplication or division of a scalar:
➢ When a vector A is multiplied by +ve scalar, it yields a vector aA
having a magnitude |aA| with the same direction as A.
➢ The sense of aA is opposite A if it is multiplied by a negative
scalar.
Scalar multiplication and division
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(b) Vector addition:
➢ Two A and B maybe added to form a resultant vector R = A + B,
by the use of two alternative methods:
➢ Resultant force is a single force that has the same effect as two
or more forces acting together.
(i) Parallelogram Law:
(a) (b) (c) 9
(ii) Triangle Law:
Join A to B in head-tail manner. This is a special case of
parallelogram law.
R=A+B R=B+A
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(c) Vector Subtraction:
Resultant difference between two vectors A and B maybe
expressed as:
R = A – B = A + (-B)
(a) (b) (c)
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Vector Addition of Forces
Two common problems in statics involve either finding the resultant
force, knowing its components, or resolving a known force into two
components.
➢ Finding a Resultant Force.
(a) (b) (c) 12
➢ Finding the Components of a Force.
F is to be resolved into two components along the two members, defined
by the u and v axes. In order to determine the magnitude of each
component, a parallelogram is constructed first, by drawing lines starting
from the tip of F, one line parallel to u, and the other line parallel to v.
(b) (c)
(a)
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Procedure for Analysis
(a) (b)
C = A + B − 2 AB cos c
2 2
COSINES RULE
sin a sin b sin c
= = SINES RULE
(c)
A B C 14
Resultant of a System of Forces
y
Rectangular
F1
component method
θ1
θ2
x
θ3
F2
F3
➢ For a system of forces shown it is best to resolve in the two 1lar
directions (x & y). Note that in reality x & y maybe two orthogonal
directions and need not be horizontal & vertical. In summary we find
the component of the forces along the x & y direction in turn. 15
R = F1 + F2 + F3 (1)
Component of R in the x-direction is Fx with magnitude.
Fx = Fx = F1 cos 1 + F3 cos 3 − F2 cos 2 (2)
Component of R in the y-direction is Fy with magnitude.
Fy = Fy = F1 sin 1 − F2 sin 2 − F3 sin 3 (3)
Note that these components may have a +ve or –ve value. If they are –ve,
their sense is opposite to that depicted by the +ve x and y axes.
Fy
R
θ
x
Fx 16
➢ The resultant R is simply found by completing the parallelogram as
before. R has magnitude given by
R = Fx2 + Fy2 (4)
➢ The resultant R makes an angle θ with the +ve x-direction given by
Fy
tan =
Fx
(5)
Fy
= tan
−1
Fx
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Cartesian Vector Notation:
It is also possible to represent the x and y components of a force in
terms of Cartesian unit vectors i and j. They are called unit vectors
because they have a dimensionless magnitude of 1, and so they
can be used to designate the directions of the x and y
axes.
Since the magnitude of each component of F is always a positive
quantity, which is represented by the (positive) scalars Fx and Fy,
then we can express F as a Cartesian vector
F = Fx i + Fy j
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Coplanar Force Resultant:
We can use either of the two methods just described to determine
the resultant of several coplanar forces
The vector resultant is therefore
These are the same results
as the i and j components
of FR determined above. 19
Example 1
The screw eye in Fig. 1a is subjected to two forces, F1 and F2.
Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.
(a) 20
SOLUTION
Parallelogram Law. The parallelogram is formed by drawing a line
from the head of F1 that is parallel to F2, and another line from the
head of F2 that is parallel to F1. The resultant force FR extends to
where these lines intersect at point A, Fig. 1b. The two unknowns are
the magnitude of FR and the angle θ (theta).
C = A + B − 2 AB cos c
2 2
COSINES RULE
sin a sin b sin c
= = SINES RULE
A B C 21
(b) (C)
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Example 2
Resolve the horizontal 600-lb force in Fig. 2a into components
acting along the u and v axes and determine the magnitudes of these
components.
(a) 23
SOLUTION
The parallelogram is constructed by extending a line from the
head of the 600-lb force parallel to the v axis until it intersects
the u axis at point B, Fig. 2b. The arrow from A to B
represents Fu. Similarly, the line extended from the head of
the 600-lb force drawn parallel to the u axis intersects the v
axis at point C, which gives Fv. The vector addition using the
triangle rule is shown in Fig. 2c. The two unknowns are the
magnitudes of Fu and Fv. Applying the law of sines,
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(b) (C)
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Example 3
Determine the magnitude of the component force F in Fig. 3a and
the magnitude of the resultant force FR if FR is directed along the
positive y axis.
(a) 26
SOLUTION
The parallelogram law of addition is shown in Fig. 3b, and the
triangle rule is shown in Fig. 3c. The magnitudes of FR and F are the
two unknowns. They can be determined by applying the law of
sines.
(b) (C) 27
Example 5
It is required that the resultant force acting on the eyebolt in Fig. 2–14a
be directed along the positive x axis and that F2 have a minimum
magnitude. Determine this magnitude, the angle u, and the
corresponding resultant force.
(a) 28
SOLUTION
The triangle rule for FR = F1 + F2 is shown in Fig. 4b. Since the
magnitudes (lengths) of FR and F2 are not specified, then F2 can
actually be any vector that has its head touching the line of action of
FR, Fig. 4c. However, as shown, the magnitude of F2 is a minimum
or the shortest length when its line of action is perpendicular to the
line of action of FR, that is, when = 90 o
(b) (C) 29
FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS
F2–1. Determine the magnitude of the resultant force acting on the
screw eye and its direction measured clockwise from the x axis.
(a) 30
F2–3. Determine the magnitude of the resultant force and its
direction measured counterclockwise from the positive x axis.
(a) 31
*2–8. Resolve the force F2 into components acting along the u and v
axes and determine the magnitudes of the components.
(a) 32
*2–16. Force F acts on the frame such that its component acting along
member AB is 650 lb, directed from B towards A. Determine the
required angle φ (0o ≤ φ ≤ 45o) and the component acting along member
BC. Set F = 850 lb and θ = 30o.
(a) 33
2–21. Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force, FR
measured counterclockwise from the positive x axis. Solve the problem
by first finding the resultant F’ = F1 + F2 and then forming FR = F’ + F3.
(a) 34
2–31. If the resultant force of the two tugboats is required to be directed
towards the positive x axis, and FB is to be a minimum, determine the
magnitude of FR and FB and the angle u.
(a) 35
The force F = 450 lb acts on the frame. Resolve this force into
components acting along members AB and AC, and determine
the magnitude of each component.
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The force F = 450 lb acts on the frame. Resolve this force into
components acting along members AB and AC, and determine
the magnitude of each component.
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