General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

ME 1222
APPLIED MECHANICS

Pradeep Jayatilaka
Department of Mechanical Engineering
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

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Engineering is…

Design,
Build, Maintain,
Research, Improve

INVENT
&
INNOVATE

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 MODULE DETAILS
 AIM:
 To provide the knowledge and understanding of the applied
mechanics principles and practices.

 Course Title : Applied Mechanics

 Credits : 2 (GPA)
 Lecture Hours/Week : 2
 Lab Hours/Week : 3 (Group classes, 2 lab. classes)
 Time of the Lecture : Friday, 8.00 am – 10.00 am
 Method of Assessment:
• Continuous assessment: 30%
• Labs
• In-class Assignments
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• Final examination: 70%
 RECOMMENDED TEXTS
 Vector Mechanics for Engineers – Statics and Dynamics
(9th Ed.), Beer F.P., Johnston E.T. Jr., McGraw-Hill, INC.
 Theory and Problems of Engineering Mechanics –
Statics and Dynamics (4th Ed.), McLean W.G., Nelson
E.W., McGraw-Hill, INC.
 Engineering Mechanics, Khurmi R.S., S. Chand &
Company Ltd. New Delhi.

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 LECTURE 1: Introduction to Mechanics

 Introduction to Mechanics
 Preliminary Concepts
 Dimensions and Units
 Trigonometry
 Method of problem solving

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 What is Mechanics
“Mechanics is a branch of Applied Science, that
deals with the response of particles and rigid bodies
to mechanical disturbances”

• Development of the subject of “Mechanics”

 Contributions of philosophers, physicists,
mathematicians, scientists
Archimedes Newton
Kepler Euler
Galileo Lagrange

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 Division of Mechanics
 Newtonian Mechanics
 Relativistic Mechanics - by Albert Einstein
 Quantum Mechanics – by Max Planck

 Idealization of Mechanics
1. Particles
• Geometrically, particle is a point. “An entity which has very small (negligible)
dimensions”
• When the distances travel by the body are very large compared to the
dimensions of the body, then we can consider it as a particle and do the
analysis
2. Finite bodies (When the size of the body is comparable
to the distance travelled)
1. Non-deformable (Rigid)
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2. Deformable (solids, fluids etc. )
 Division of Engineering Mechanics
• Statics
– Deals with the forces and their effects, while acting upon
the bodies at rest.
• Dynamics
– Deals with the forces and their effects, while acting upon
the bodies in motion
– Further sub-divided into two branches
1. Kinetics: Deals with the bodies in motion due to the application of
forces
2. Kinematics: Deals with the bodies in motion, without any
reference to the forces which are responsible for the motion

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 Applied Mechanics - Fundamental Concepts
• 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. responses to

earth’s gravitational attraction and resistance to change in
translational motion.

• 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 action on a
body is related to the mass of the body and the variation of its velocity with time. 10
 Fundamental Concepts cont…

• Newton’s First Law: If the resultant force on

a particle is zero, the particle will remain at
rest or continue to move in a straight line.
• Newton’s Second Law: A particle will have
an acceleration proportional to a nonzero
• Parallelogram Law resultant of applied forces.
 
F  ma
• Newton’s Third Law: The forces of action
and reaction between two particles have the
same magnitude and line of action with
opposite sense.
• Newton’s Law of Gravitation: Two particles
are attracted with equal and opposite forces,
Mm GM
• Principle of Transmissibility F G W  mg , g 
r2 R2
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 Dimensions
“To study mechanics, we must establish abstractions to
describe those characteristics of a body that interest us.
These abstractions are called dimensions”
• Those are properties assigned to every physical entity
depending on its role and nature.
• Two types of Dimensions
a) Basic dimensions (Primary)
 Length (L) – Indicates the size of the body
 Time (T) – Ordering of the occurrence of events
 Mass (M) – Amount of matter
 Other types: Electric current, Temperature, Amount of Substance, Luminous
Intensity
b) Derived Dimensions (Secondary)
• Expressed in terms of basic dimensions
• Examples

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 Dimensions cont…

 Some physical quantities are dimensionless

 Sometimes, it is said to be pure numbers (quantities with no units).
However, some quantities have units even though they do not have
dimensions.
 Examples:

 Arithmetic and Dimensions

 There are strict rules for doing arithmetic with quantities that have
dimensions
1. Can only add, subtract, or compare quantities with the same
dimension.
2. Can multiply and divide quantities with any dimension
3. Sine, cosine, logarithms, etc.: Input “x” in something like sin (x),
ln (x), or log (x) must always be dimensionless and unitless.

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 Dimensions cont…

 Arithmetic and Dimensions (cont…)

4. Exponentiation (mb): Base (m) and exponent (b)
• The exponent (b) must be dimensionless. Must be a pure
number with unitless
• The base must also be dimensionless, unless the exponent
happens to be an integer. Or more precisely, the dimension of
the base have to match the exponent in a way that the result
has sensible dimensions.
 Dimensional homogeneity of equations
 If an equation is not dimensionally homogenous, that equation is
incorrect or not complete.
 Example: Equation for the mass under spring force system

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 Units
“Basic dimensions are measured by comparison with some
standard quantities or scales, they are called Units”
• A system of units prescribes standards for basic as well as
derived dimensions.
a) Examples of system of units
 S.I units (International System of
Units)
 British units
 C.G.S units

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 Units cont…

 Comparison of S.I. units and C.G.S. units

Dimension C.G.S. Units S.I. Units
Length Centimeter (cm) Meter (m) = 100 cm
Mass Gram (g) Kilogram (kg) = 1000 g
Time Second (s) Second (s)
Force Dyne Newton (N) = 100 000 dyn

 Conversion of units
 A basic dimension such as length (L) may be expressed in two different
units:
L = N1U1 = N2U2
N1/N2 = U1/U2

U1/U2 = Conversion factors

Meter / centimeter = 100;
Meter / foot = 3.281;
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Dyne / Newton = 10-5;
 Units cont…

 Presentation of units and their values

 In order to make it simple in practice, along with units of particular
system, prefixes are used.

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 Units cont…

 Problems
No. Physical Quantity Relationship of the quantity Dimension
1 Velocity = Displacement / Time
2 Force = Mass x Acceleration
3 Momentum = Mass x Velocity
4 Pressure = Force / Area
Friction Coefficient = Friction Force (F) / Perpendicular Reaction
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(R)
6 Torque = Force x Perpendicular distance
7 Work (Energy) = Force x Displacement
8 Angular Velocity = Speed (V) / Radius (r)

1. The relationship between Force (F) and Density (ρ) is given by { }. Find
dimensions of P.
2. The displacement (X) of an object in motion with respect to time (t) is given below. ‘A’ and
‘B’ are constants and both have dimensions. Find dimensions of A and B.

3. Where, S = Distance travelled, u = Initial velocity, a = Constant

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acceleration and t = time. Find dimension of k.
 Trigonometry
 Definitions, concepts and equations in trigonometry
 In a right-angled triangle ABC ,

 Trigonometric functions for some typical angles

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 Trigonometry cont…
 Sign of the trigonometric  Expansions
functions in four quadrants 1. sin (A + B) = sin A cos B + cos A sin B
2. sin (A - B) = sin A cos B - cos A sin B
3. cos (A + B) = cos A cos B - sin A sin B
4. cos (A - B) = cos A cos B + sin A sin B
5. sin (2A) = 2 sin A cos A
6. .

7. .

8. sin2 θ + cos2 θ = 1
9. 1 + tan2 θ = sec2 θ
10. 1 + cot2 θ = cosec2 θ
11. cos 2A = 1 – 2 sin2 θ
12. cos 2A = 2 cos2 θ - 1
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 Method of Solving Problems
• Problem Statement:
Includes given data, specification of what is to be determined, and a figure
showing all quantities involved.
• 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.
• 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
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“reasonable”