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Fundamental Concepts
Setting the Stage for the Study of Dynamics

Objectives
y Review basic geometrical and physical concepts used in
dynamics.

Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 1

Space and Time

y Space: the environment in
which physical
phenomena happen.
y Often use a right-handed
Cartesian coordinate
system to locate points in
space (point P).
y Time: a scalar variable
that allows us to order
sequences of events.

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Force, Mass, and Inertia

y A force acting on an object is the interaction between that
object and its environment.
Forces have magnitude and directionvectors are used to
mathematically represent forces.
y The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of matter
in it.
y Force and mass are primitive concepts, i.e., not explainable
using more elementary ideas.
y Inertia: a bodys resistance to changing its state of motion in
response to the application of a force system. The inertia
properties of an object are its mass and a description of how
its mass is distributed.

Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 3

Particle and Rigid Body

y A particle is an object whose inertia is only its mass, which
is concentrated at a point.
y A rigid body is an object whose mass is
1. distributed over a region of space
2. such that the distance between any two points on it never changes.
y The inertia properties of a 3D rigid body consist of seven
pieces of information: the bodys mass and six mass
moments of inertia (which measure how that mass is
distributed in the body).

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Vectors and Their Cartesian

Representation
y Vectors are denoted by an
arrow over a letter.
y A symbol with no arrow
generally denotes a scalar.
y Unit vectors are denoted by
a hat over a letter, e.g., .
y Double-headed arrows
identify rotational
quantities, e.g., moments,
angular velocities, and
angular accelerations.

Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 5

Cartesian Vector Representation

y The expression is the position
of P relative to the origin O.
y When there is no ambiguity, we
denote position by and write

y rx and ry are the (scalar) Cartesian

components:

y For the position of A with respect

to B we write

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Vector Operations
y Multiplication by scalar:

y Vector addition:

y Dot or scalar product:

y Cross product: referring to the

lower right figure, given vectors
the vector

has the direction shown and

magnitude

Note:
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Vector Operations
y Given the Cartesian components of a vector,

y The vector can also be

represented as

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Useful Vector Tips and Tricks

y The dot product can find the
component of a vector along a line.
Let 1 be the unit vector orienting
the line

y Hence, in general

Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 9

Units
y We will use both U.S. Customary units and SI units.
y F = ma, provides for the formulation of a consistent and
unambiguous system of units.
y Each system has three base dimensions and a fourth derived
dimension.

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Dimensional Homogeneity and Unit

Conversions
y Looking at the dimensional homogeneity of your solutions
provides a very useful check.
y Appropriate units should be used in all equations during a
numerical calculations.
y Dimensional analysis and unit conversion will be
demonstrated in the examples.

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Examples
The objective of these examples is to illustrate some of the
vector operations discussed earlier as well as to illustrate
how to determine the correct units for physical quantities.

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Example 1.2
This map of Minnesota shows four of
its cities. Their coordinates are given
on the next slide. Assuming the Earth
is flat, the x and y directions can be
considered to be east and north,
respectively. Use the coordinates
given below.

Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 13

Example 1.2 Determine

a) The position of Duluth (D) relative
to Minneapolis/St. Paul (M).
b) The orientation, relative to north,
of the position of International
Falls (I) relative to
Fargo/Moorhead (F).
c) The east and north (scalar)
components of the position of
Fargo/Moorhead relative to
Minneapolis/St. Paul.
d) The position of the point H
halfway between
Minneapolis/St. Paul and
International Falls.Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 14
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Example 1.2Part (a)

y Road Map. We know the coordinates
D and M. From these we can
compute the components of
y Computation. Using the given
coordinates

where D/M = 72.57.

y Discussion & Verification. Using the scale on the map,
we can graphically verify that our answers are correct.
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Example 1.2Part (b)

y Road Map. To find the orientation of I
relative to F, we first find the unit
vector I/F. To find I/F, we find the
position of I relative to F and then
divide by its magnitude.
y Computation. Using the given info

y Then, I/F is found as

y Discussion & Verification. The answer suggests that I is

approximately northeast ofEngineering
F, asMechanics:
can beDynamics,
verified on the map.16
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Example 1.2Part (c)

y Road Map. To find the east (x) and
north (y) components of , we
compute the dot product of these
vectors with the unit vectors
respectively.
y Computation. Using the given info

y Discussion & Verification. We find that Fargo/Moorhead is

148 mi north of Minneapolis/St. Paul and it is 204 mi west
(i.e., 204 mi east), which looks reasonable.
Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Gray/Costanzo/Plesha, 2e 17

Example 1.2Part (d)

y Road Map. The position of H, which
is halfway between Minneapolis and
International Falls, is given by the
vector The key to the solution is
then realizing that
y Computation. Using the given info

y Since we have

y Discussion & Verification. Again using the scale provided

on the map, we can see that our result appears to be correct.
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Example 1.4
In studying the motion of
a string, it is determined
that the speed of the various
points along the string is
given by the function

where s is the coordinate of points along the string, t is time, and

, , , and are constants.
a) What are the dimensions of , , , and ?
b) If , , , and are all equal to 1 in SI units, what are they in
U.S. Customary units?

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Example 1.4Part (a)

y Road Map. Since the dimensions of speed are L/T, the
dimensions of every term on the right-hand side of

must also be L/T.

y Computation. must have the same dimensions as v.
y For ,
y For ,
y For ,
y Discussion & Verification. By substituting our results into
the original equation and checking the dimensions of each
term we can see that indeed the both sides of our equation
have the same dimensions of L/T.
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Example 1.4Part (b)

y Road Map. Express , , in SI units and use the
appropriate conversion factors to write them in U.S. units.
No conversion is needed for since it is dimensionless.
y Computation. Based on the results of Part (a), and, we have
= 1 m/s, = 1 m/s3, = 1 s1. Hence, we have

Notice that no conversion is needed for .

y Discussion & Verification. Both SI and the U.S. Customary
systems have units in agreement with their dimensions.
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Problem 1.10

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Problem 1.10

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Problem 1.10

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Problem 1.24

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Problem 1.24

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