Introduction to Statics

Lessandro Estelito O. GARCIANO

Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
De La Salle University

What is Mechanics?
o

Mechanics is the science which describes and

predicts the conditions of rest or motion of bodies
under the action of forces

It is divided into three parts: mechanics of rigid

bodies, mechanics of deformable bodies, and
mechanics of fluids.

Statics the branch of mechanics that treat objects

which are stationary (usually) or at constant
velocity.
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What is Mechanics?
statics
Rigid Bodies

kinematics
dynamics
kinetics

Mechanics
of Solids

Strength of materials
Deformable Bodies

Engineering
Mechanics

Theory of elasticity

Theory of plasticity
Ideal fluids
Mechanics
of Fluids

viscous fluids
compressible fluids

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What is Mechanics?
o

Kinematics the study of the relationship among

displacement, velocity and acceleration without
regard to the cause of the motion

Kinetics the branch of mechanics that examines

the relationships between forces and acceleration

Dynamics combination of kinematics and kinetics

The basic concepts used in mechanics are space,

time, mass and force.
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Fundamental Concepts
involved in Newtons Laws
o

Space- associated with the notion of the position of a

point P given in terms of three coordinates measured
from a reference point or origin.

Time- definition of an event requires specification of the

time and position at which it occurred.

Mass- used to characterize and compare bodies, e.g.,

response to earths gravitational attraction and
resistance to changes in translational motion.

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Fundamental Concepts
involved in Newtons Laws
o

Force - represents the action of one body on another. A

force is characterized by its point of application,
magnitude, and direction, i.e., a force is a vector
quantity

In Newtonian Mechanics, space, time, and mass are absolute concepts

independent of each other. Force, however, is not independent of the other
three. The force acting on a body is related to the mass of the body and the
variation of its velocity with time.
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Newtons Law of Motion

o

First Law
If the resultant force acting on a particle is zero, the particle will
remain at rest (if originally at rest) or will move with constant
speed in a straight line (if originally in motion)

Second Law
If the resultant force acting on a particle is not zero, the particle
will have an acceleration proportional to the magnitude of the
resultant and in the direction of the resultant force

Third Law
The forces of action and reaction between bodies in contact have
the same magnitude same line of action, and opposite sense.

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Units
o

Kinetic Units: Length, time, mass and force.

Three of the kinetic units, referred to as basic units,

may be defined arbitrarily. The fourth unit, referred
to as a derived unit, must have a definition
compatible with Newtons 2nd Law.

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Units
o

International System of Units (SI): The basic units

are length, time, and mass which are arbitrarily
defined as the meter (m), second (s), and kilogram
(kg). Force is the derived unit,

U.S. Customary Units: The basic units are length,

time, and force which are arbitrarily defined as the
foot (ft), second (s), and pound (lb). Mass is the
derived unit,
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Units
Units
Mass
Length
Time
Force

SI
kilogram (kg)
meter (m)
second (s)
newton (N)*

U.S.
slug (-)*
foot (ft)
second (sec)
pound (lb)

*not base or fundamental

units, but defined by Newtons
second law.

Note: The SI system is an absolute system, because a

gravitational field is unnecessary for definition of the three
basic units. On the other hand, the US customary system is
a gravitational system.

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Units
(SI)
m
F = ma
1 N = (1 kg) (1 m / s2)
1 N = 1 kg m / s2

(US)
F = ma
1 lb = (1 slug) (1 ft / s2)
a
1 slug = 1 lb - s2 / ft

So:
* 1 N is the force which will accelerate 1 kg at 1 m/s2
* 1 slug is the mass which a 1 lb force will accelerate at at 1 ft/sec2
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Law of Gravitation

m1

F
r

m2

m1, m2 = the masses of the two

particles

r = the center-to-center distance

between the particles

The magnitude F of the mutual force of attraction is

where G is the universal gravitational constant.

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Law of Gravitation
Special case: mass m on surface of Earth
From

, we have

me
m
R

or W = mg
where W is the magnitude of the force of gravitational attraction (the
weight of m) and g = Gme/R2 is the acceleration of gravity.

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Law of Gravitation

There are absolute values for g relative to a nonrotating Earth.

The common value for analyses relative to the rotating Earth are:
m
m

W g
a F
Note that W = mg may be obtained from Newtons Second Law
applied to a particle of mass m which is allowed to fall freely near
the surface of the Earth.

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Review of Vectors
o

Vector: parameters possessing magnitude and direction

which add according to the parallelogram law. Examples:
displacements, velocities, accelerations.

Vector classifications:
- Fixed or bound vectors have well defined points of
application that cannot be changed without affecting
an analysis.
- Free vectors may be freely moved in space without
changing their effect on an analysis.
- Sliding vectors may be applied anywhere along their
line of action without affecting an analysis. Force is a
vector quantity.
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Vectors
o

Scalar: parameters possessing magnitude but

not direction. Examples: mass, volume,
temperature

Equal vectors have the same magnitude and

direction.

Negative vector of a given vector has the

same magnitude and the opposite direction.
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Addition of Vectors
o

Trapezoid rule for vector addition

Triangle rule for vector addition

Law of cosines
R 2 P 2 Q 2 2 PQ cos B
R PQ

C
B
C

Law of sines
sin A sin B sin C

Q
R
A

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Addition of Vectors
o

Vector addition is commutative

C
B

PQ QP
o

Vector subtraction

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Addition of Vectors
o

Addition of three or more vectors through

repeated application of the triangle rule

The polygon rule for the addition of three

or more vectors.
Vector addition is associative,

P Q S P Q S P Q S
o

Multiplication of a vector by a scalar

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Unit Vectors
V Vx Vy Vz
Vx i Vy j Vz k
V cos x i V cos y j V cos z k
V cos x i cos y j cos z k
V li mj nk
l 2 m2 n2 1
l,m,n direction cosines of V
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Rectangular Components
Fx and Fy are the x- and y- scalar
components of F.

Fx F cos
Fy F sin
Note that scalar components
include sign information.

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Dot or Scalar Product

Dot or Scalar Product

P Q PQ cos
May be regarded as
Magnitude of P times component
Qcos of Q in the direction of P.
Or

Magnitude of Q times component

Pcos of P in the direction of Q.
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Dot product definition

i i j j k k 1
i j j i i k j k k j 0

P Q Px i Py j Pz k Qx i Qy j Qz k
PxQx Py Qy Pz Qz

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Cross or Vector Product

Cross or Vector Product

P Q PQ sin en
Where en is a vector perpendicular to
the plane formed by P and Q in the
right-hand sense.
From the definition,

i j k j k i k i j
j i k k j i i k j
i i j j k k 0

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Dot product definition

P Q Px i Py j Pz k Qx i Qy j Qz k

Py Qz Pz Qy i Pz Qx PxQz j PxQy Py Qx k

This cross product may be evaluated from the determinant

i
P Q Px
Qx

j
Py
Qy

k
Pz
Qz
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Resultant of Two Forces

o

force: action of one body on another;

characterized by its point of application,
magnitude, line of action, and sense.

Experimental evidence shows that the

combined effect of two forces may be
represented by a single resultant force.

The resultant is equivalent to the diagonal of

a parallelogram which contains the two
forces in adjacent legs.

Force is a vector quantity.

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Resultant of several concurrent forces

o

Concurrent forces: set of forces

which all pass through the same
point.
A set of concurrent forces applied to
a particle may be replaced by a
single resultant force which is the
vector sum of the applied forces.

Vector force components: two or

more force vectors which, together,
have the same effect as a single force
vector.

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Method of Problem Solution

o

Problem Statement:
Includes given data, specification of what
is to be determined, and a figure showing
all quantities involved.

Solution Check:

Test for errors in reasoning by

verifying that the units of the
computed results are correct,

test for errors in computation by

substituting
given
data
and
computed results into previously
unused equations based on the six
principles,

always apply experience and

physical intuition to assess whether
results seem reasonable

Free-Body Diagrams:
Create separate diagrams for each of the
bodies involved with a clear indication of
all forces acting on each body.

Fundamental Principles:
The six fundamental principles are applied
to express the conditions of rest or motion
of each body. The rules of algebra are
applied to solve the equations for the
unknown quantities.

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Numerical Accuracy
o

The accuracy of a solution depends on

accuracy of the given data, and

accuracy of the computations performed. The solution

cannot be more accurate than the less accurate of these
two.

The use of hand calculators and computers generally makes

the accuracy of the computations much greater than the
accuracy of the data. Hence, the solution accuracy is usually
limited by the data accuracy.
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Accuracy and Approximation

o

Answers in statics will be displayed to three significant figures

(four if the number begins with a one).
Answer displayed on calculator

Answer displayed on paper

4.13459

4.13

4.13594

4.14

1.33333

1.333 or (4/3)

0.96592

0.966

934.25

934

279,340

279,000

Be sure to store intermediate results in the calculator storage

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registry so as to avoid roundoff errors.

Accuracy and Approximation

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Sample Problem
The two forces P and Q act on a bolt A. Determine
their resultant. R = 98 N, = 35o

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Sample Problem
A barge is pulled by two
tugboats. If the resultant of
the forces exerted by the
tugboats is 5000 N directed
along the axis of the barge,
determine (a) the tension in
each of the ropes for a = 45o,
(b) the value of a for which
the tension in rope 2 is a
minimum. (a) T1 = 3700 N, T2 = 2600
N (b) T1 = 4330 N, T2 = 2500 N, a = 60o

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Sample Problem
Two forces are applied to an
eye bolt fastened to a beam.
Determine graphically the
magnitude and direction of
their resultant using (a) the
parallelogram law, (b) the
triangle rule. R = 8.40 kN, a = 19.0o

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Check your understanding

To steady a sign as it is being
lowered, two cables are
attached to the sign at A. Using
trigonometry and knowing that
a = 25o, determine (a) the
required magnitude of the force
P if the resultant R of the two
forces applied at A is to be
vertical, (b) the corresponding
magnitude of R. (a) 489 N (b) 738 N
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