Chapter 1 - General Principles: Objectives

1
Chapter 1 – GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, the students should be able to:
1. define mechanics and statics.
2. state the three Newton’s laws of motion.
3. memorize the units used in statics.
1.a. Definition of Terms

Mechanics – the branch of the physical sciences concerned with the state or motion of bodies that are subjected
to the action of forces.
Statics – division of mechanics of rigid bodies that deals with bodies which are acted on by balanced forces and
hence are either at rest or move with a constant velocity.
Length – a quantity that is needed to locate the position of a point in space and thereby describe the size of a
physical system.
Time – it is an absolute quantity that measures the succession of events.
Mass – a property of matter by which the action of one body with that of another can be compared. This
property manifests itself as a gravitational attraction between two bodies and provides a quantitative
measure of the resistance of matter to a change in velocity.
Force – it is the action of one body upon another body. The interaction can occur by direct contact or through a
distance by which the bodies are physically separated like the gravitational force.
Particle – a body that is thought of as a single point at which all its mass is concentrated.
Rigid body – a combination of a large number of particles in which all the particles remain at a fixed distance
from one another both before and after applying a load.
Concentrated force – represents the effect of a loading which is assumed to act at a point on the body.
1.b. Newton’s Laws of Motion
First Law
A particle originally at rest, or moving in a straight line with constant velocity, will remain in this state
provided the particle is not subjected to an unbalanced force.
F1
v
F3
F2
Second Law
A particle acted upon by an unbalanced force F experiences an acceleration a that has the same
direction as the force and a magnitude that is directly proportional to the force. If F is applied to a
particle of mass m, this law may be expressed mathematically as F = ma.
a
F
2
Third Law
The mutual forces of action and reaction between two particles are equal, opposite, and collinear.
F'
1.c. Weight
W = mg
where: g is the acceleration due to gravity (equals 9.81 m/s2 at standard location)
1.d. Units used in Mechanics
Quantity SI U.S.
Mass Kilogram Slug
Length Meter Feet
Time Second Second
Force Newton (kg-m/s2) Pound (slug-ft/s2)
22
2.h. Rectangular Components of a Force in Three Dimensions

The rectangular components for any force, as discussed in the previous section, can be found from
trigonometry. z
z
z
x
x Fy F y
y
x FFx = F cos 
x x x
z
z z
F Fz z
F
y
y y
Fy
x Fy = F cos y x Fz = F cos z
z
If the rectangular components are known, the magnitude of F can be determined from the relationship
F  Fx  Fy  Fz
2 2 2
Direction angles or direction cosines – these are the angles x, y, and z, (where 0    180) between F and
the positive coordinate axes which can be computed as follows:
Fx Fy Fz
x = Arc cos , y = Arc cos , z = Arc cos
F F F
The cosines of these angles must satisfy the equation
` cos2 x + cos2 y + cos2 z = 1
If an angle is more than 90, the cosine is negative, indicating that the sense of the component is opposite to the
positive direction of the coordinate axis.
2.i. Cartesian Vectors

The analysis of some problems in three dimensions is simplified using vector algebra in which the
forces are represented in the Cartesian vector form. A right-handed coordinate system is used in the theory of
vector algebra. A rectangular or Cartesian Coordinate System is said to be right-handed if the thumb of the right
hand points in the direction of the positive z axis when the right-hand fingers are curled about the axis directed
from the positive x to the positive y axis.
2.i-1. Unit vectors

Unit vector, uA – a vector with a magnitude of one “dimensionless” unit and acts in the same direction as the
vector A. It is determined by dividing A by its magnitude A; i. e.,
A z
uA 
A
2.i-2. Cartesian unit vectors k j
The directions of the positive x, y, and z axes are defined by the y
i
Cartesian unit vectors i, j, k , respectively.
x
23
2.i-3. Cartesian vector representation

Using the properties of vector addition, a vector A can be written as the sum of its three components:
A = Ax i + Ay j + Az k
This is known as the standard Cartesian form of representing a vector. Hence, for a force F with a given
magnitude and direction cosines, the Cartesian vector form is
F = F cos x i + F cos y j + F cos z k
2.j. Position Vectors

Position vector – it is defined as a fixed vector which locates a point in space relative to another point.
If r extends from the origin of coordinates O to point P(x, y, z), then r can be expressed in Cartesian
vector form as r = xi + yj + zk.
z
P(x, y, z)
zk r
O yj
xi
B y
For a position vector r that is directed from point A to point B in space, applying the head-to-tail vector
addition and using the triangle rule, rA + r = rB. Solving for r and expressing rA and rB in Cartesian vector form
yields
r = rB – rA = (xBi + yBj + zBk) – (xAi + yAj + zAk)
or r = (xB – xA)i + (yB – yA)j + (zB – zA)k
z B(xB, yB, zB)
r
rB
A(xA, yA, zA) y
rA
x
Thus, the i, j, k components of the position vector r may be formed by taking the coordinates of the tail of the
vector A(xA, yA, zA) and subtracting them from the corresponding coordinates of the head B(xB, yB, zB).
2.k. Force Vector Along a Line

A force F with a line of action that is directed from point a A to a point B can be expressed as a
Cartesian vector by realizing that it has the same direction and sense as a position vector r acting along its line
of action. This common direction is specified by the unit vector u. Hence, from the definition of a unit vector,
F = F u; where: u  r
r
r
FF
r
FF
xB  x A i   y B  y A j  z B  z A k
xB  x A 2   y B  y A 2  z B  z A 2
28
2.l. Dot Product or Scalar Product

Dot or scalar product of two intersecting vectors – it is defined to be a scalar quantity determined by
multiplying the magnitudes of the two vectors by the cosine of their included angle.
A
A · B = AB cos 

where: 0    180
B
For 0    90, the scalar is positive and for 90    180, the scalar is negative. When  = 90,
the two vectors are perpendicular and the scalar is zero.
One use of the dot product is to obtain the rectangular component of one vector along any direction.
This component is equal to the dot product of the vector with a unit vector in the desired direction. From the
figure,
A A · B = AB cos 
AB
 A cos θ 
AB B
B AB = A · n B
2.l-1. Properties of the dot product:

1. Commutative: A · B = B · A
2. Associative: mA · nB = mnA · B
3. Distributive: A · (B + C) = A · C + A · C
2.l-2. Dot product of the unit vectors

From the definition of a dot product, the dot products of the orthogonal unit vectors are as follows:
i · i = 1×1×cos 0º = 1 j · j = 1×1×cos 0º = 1 k · k = 1×1×cos 0º = 1
i · j = 1×1×sin 0º = 0 j·i=j·k=k·j=k·i=i·k=0
2.l-3. Dot product of two vectors

A · B = (Ax i + Ay j + Az k) · (Bx i + By j + Bz k)
The vector multiplication can be evaluated by applying the properties of a dot product.
A · B = Ax i + Ay j + Az k · i + By j + Bz k
= Ax Bx i · i + Ax By i · j + Ax Bz i · k + Ay Bx j · i + Ay By j · j
+ Ay Bz j · k + Az Bx k · i + Az By k · j + Az Bz k · k
Applying the dot product operations, we finally get
A · B = AxBx + AyBy + AzBz
From the above result, the expansion of a dot product in terms of the scalar components of the vectors is
equal to the sum of the products of their respective scalar components.

Chapter 1 - General Principles: Objectives

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 1 - General Principles: Objectives

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 1 - General Principles: Objectives

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

Chapter 1 – GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1.a. Definition of Terms

1.b. Newton’s Laws of Motion

1.d. Units used in Mechanics

2.h. Rectangular Components of a Force in Three Dimensions

2.i. Cartesian Vectors

2.i-1. Unit vectors

2.i-3. Cartesian vector representation

2.j. Position Vectors

2.k. Force Vector Along a Line

2.l. Dot Product or Scalar Product

2.l-1. Properties of the dot product:

2.l-2. Dot product of the unit vectors

2.l-3. Dot product of two vectors

You might also like