Lecture 17

Engineering Mechanics

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Mechanics: It’s a branch of science, which deals with the
action of forces on bodies at rest or in motion.

Engineering Mechanics is the application of mechanics to

solve problems involving common engineering elements.

Mechanics :
- Rigid-body
- Deformable-body
- Fluid
 Units and Dimensions

Quantity Unit Dimension

Area m2 L2

Volume m3 L3

Velocity m/s LT-1

Acceleration m/s2 LT-2

Force N or kg-m/s2 M LT-2

 Basic Concepts
Matter: Anything which has mass and requires space to occupy is called
matter.
Particle: Concept of particle is purely theoretical or imaginary. A particle is
said to have mass but requires no space to occupy.
Mass: It is a measure of quantity of matter contained by the body.
SI unit: kg.
Volume: It is a measure of space occupied by the body.
Unit: m3
Note: Liter is SI Unit of volume
1000 liters = 1 m3
Scalar and Vector Quantities:
Quantities which require only magnitude to represent them are
called scalar quantities.
Eg: Mass, Time interval, etc.

Quantities which require both magnitude and direction to

represent them are called vector quantities.
Eg: Force, Velocity, etc.
Displacement and distance travelled:
The total linear movement made by a body to change its position from one point
to another is called distance travelled by the body. It is a scalar quantity.
Unit: Meter (m)
mm – Millimeter = 10-3m
km – kilo Meter = 103m

The total linear movement made by a body to change its position from one point
to another moving along a particular direction is called displacement.
Displacement is a vector quantity.
Unit: Meter (m).
Speed and Velocity:
The distance travelled in a unit time is speed. Unit: m/s or ms-1
The displacement in unit time is called velocity. Unit: m/s or ms-1

Uniform motion and non-uniform motion:

If the velocity of the moving body remains constant then the motion
is said to be uniform.
If the velocity is changing with time, the motion is said to be non-
uniform.
Acceleration and retardation:
The time rate of change of velocity is called acceleration.
If the velocity is increasing with time then acceleration is
positive.
If the velocity is decreasing with time then acceleration is
negative.
Negative acceleration is called retardation or deceleration.
Unit: m/s2 or ms-2
 Laws of Mechanics
Newton`s First Law
“Everybody continues to be in its state of rest or uniform
motion unless compelled by an external agency”.
Inertia: It is the inherent property of a body by virtue of which it
can retain its state of rest or uniform motion unless compelled by
an external agency.
Force: It is an external agency, which overcomes or tends to
overcome the inertia of a body. It is a vector quantity.
 Newton`s Second Law
“The rate of change of moment of a body is directly proportional to the
magnitude of the force applied and takes place in the direction of the force
applied”.
In SI, unit force is defined as that force which acts on a body of unit mass
producing unit acceleration.
i.e., F = 1 when m = 1 and a = 1
then 1 = k . 1 . 1
Therefore k = 1
F = ma
Unit of force: newton (N) is the unit of force. One newton is that force
which acts on a body of mass 1 kg producing an acceleration of 1 m/s.
kN – kilo Newton 103N
MN – Mega Newton 106N
GN – Giga Newton 109N
 Newton`s Third Law

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

 Lecture 18

Engineering Mechanics

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Force
It is the external agency which tends to change the state of a body or a particle.
When a force is applied to a body which is at rest, the body may remain in the
state of rest or it may move with some velocity.

• It is a push or pull acting on a body

• It is a vector quantity
• Measured in Newtons (N)
• 1 N = (1 kg ) (1 m/s2)
Elements / Characteristics of a force:
 Magnitude
 Direction
 Line of action
 Point of action or application
Point force:
The concept of point force in purely theoretical or imaginary, here
the force is assumed to be acting at a point or over infinity small
area.
Example 1:
Consider a body being pushed by a force of 10 N as shown in figure below.

The characteristics of the force acting on the body are

1) Magnitude is 10 N.
2) Point of application is A.
3) Line of action is A to B or AB.
4) Direction is horizontal towards right.
Example 2:
Consider a ladder AB resting on a floor and leaning against a wall, on which a
person weighing 750 N stands on the ladder at a point C on the ladder.

The characteristics of the force acting on

the ladder are
1) Magnitude is 750 N.
2) Point of application is C.
3) Line of action is C to D or CD.
4) Direction is vertically downward.
System of forces
Coplanar force system:
If the lines of action of forces forming the system lie in
the same plane, then the system is said to be coplanar.

Non-coplanar force system:

If the lines of action of forces forming the system
do not lie in the same plane then the system is said
to be non-coplanar.

Note: Our study is restricted to coplanar forces.

Collinear force system:
If the forces forming the system have common line of action then the system is
said to be collinear.

Non-collinear force system:

If the forces forming the system have different line of action then the system is
said to be non-collinear.
Concurrent force system:
If the line of action of forces forming
the system pass through a common
point (point of concurrence) then the
system is said to be concurrent.

Non-concurrent force system:

If the lines of action of forces forming the system
do not pass through a common point, then the
system is said to be non-concurrent.
Parallel force system:
It is a particular case of non-concurrent force system in which the line of action
of forces forming the system are parallel.
Like parallel force system: All the forces act parallel to one another and are in
the same direction.
Unlike parallel force system: The forces act parallel to another, but some of
the forces have their line of action in opposite directions.

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 Lecture 19

Engineering Mechanics

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Principle of physical independence of forces:
Action of forces on bodies are independent, in other words the action
of forces on a body is not influenced by the action of any other force
on the body.

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Principle of superposition of forces:
Net effect of forces applied in any sequence on a body is given by the
algebraic sum of effect of individual forces on the body.

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Principle of transmissibility of forces:
The point of application of a force on a rigid body can be changed along
the same line of action maintaining the same magnitude and direction
without affecting the effect of the force on the body.
Limitation: Principle of transmissibility can be used only for rigid bodies
and cannot be used for deformable bodies.
Assumptions made in Engineering Mechanics:
 All bodies are rigid.
 Particle concept can be used wherever applicable.
 Principle of physical independence of forces is valid.
 Principle of superposition of forces is valid.
 Principle of transmissibility of forces is valid.
 Lecture 20

Resultant of Concurrent Force Systems

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Resolution of A Force
The technique of finding a
component of a force along any
direction is called resolution of
force.

• The force F is producing, simultaneous x displacement and y-displacement.

• The part of the force F which is producing x displacement is called x component
or horizontal component of the force F (Fx).
• The part of the force F which produces y – displacement is called y component
of the force or vertical component of force F (Fy).
To resolve a force along any direction
OA represents the force F both in magnitude
and direction ‘Ɵ’ is the acute angle made by
the force w.r.t. x direction.
Sign convention for the direction of components
NOTE 1: The horizontal component or ‘X’
component of a force acting along x
direction is the force itself. Whereas, its
vertical component or y-component is zero.

NOTE 2: ‘x’ component of a force acting along Y

direction is zero. Whereas, its ‘y’
component is equal to itself.

NOTE 3: If a force is inclined at 45o w.r.t. x axis or y axis then its x

component will be equal to y component (Fx = Fy).
Example : 1

Find FX and FY

Example : 2

Find FX and FY
Example : 3

Find Ɵ, FX and FY
 Lecture 20

Resultant of Concurrent Force Systems

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Composition of Forces
• It is the process of combining a number of forces into a
single force.
• The net effect produced by the single force is equal to the
algebraic sum of the effects produced by the individual
forces.
• The single force in this case is called the resultant force.

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Resultant Force of a Force System

The resultant of a system of forces

is a single calculated force which is
capable of producing the same
effect as that of system of forces on
the body. It is the vector sum of
forces of the system.
Resultant Force of a Force System

ƩFX = algebraic sum of horizontal forces

ƩFY = algebraic sum of vertical forces
Parallelogram law of forces:
Note: This law is applicable to determine the resultant of two coplanar concurrent
forces only.
This law states “If two forces acting at a point are represented both in magnitude
and direction by the two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then the resultant of
the two forces is represented both in magnitude and direction is given by the
diagonal of the parallelogram passing through the same point.”
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Different cases of parallelogram law:
For different values of θ, we can have different cases such as follows:
P = F1 and Q=F2

θ
α
α

α
Different cases of parallelogram law:
Θ = 1800
θ

α
Θ = 00
θ

α
Triangle law:
If two forces acting simultaneously on a particle can be represented both in
magnitude and direction by the two sides of a triangle taken in order, then the
magnitude and direction of the resultant can be represented by the third side of a
triangle, taken in opposite order. This is illustrated in Figure.

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Polygon law:
If a number of forces acting on a particle can be represented in both magnitude
and direction by the sides of the polygon taken in order, then the resultant can be
represented in magnitude and direction by the closing side of the polygon taken in
the opposite order. This is illustrated in Figure.

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 Lecture 22, 23 and 24

Resultant of Concurrent Force Systems

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Example: 1
A force of 200 N is acting at a point making an angle of 40° with
the positive x-axis. Determine the components of this force along
the x and y directions.

Answer:
Fx = 153.208 N
Fy = 128.557 N

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Example: 2
Determine the magnitude & direction of the resultant of the
coplanar concurrent force system shown in figure below.

Answer:
R = 200.18 N
θ = 3.93°
Example: 3
Determine the resultant of the four forces acting on a particle as
shown in Figure.

Answer:
R = 303.4 N
θ = 68.85°
Example: 4
Five coplanar forces are acting at a point shown in figure. Determine
the resultant in magnitude and direction.

Answer:
R = 326.584 N
θ = 28.020
Example: 5
Find the resultant of the coplanar concurrent force system shown
in Figure.

Answer:
R = 433.692 N
θ = 51.470
Example: 6
Four forces acting on a hook are shown in figure. Determine the
direction of the force 150 N such that the hook is pulled in the
X – direction. Determine the resultant force in X – direction.

Answer:
R = 316.142 N
θ = 17.61o
Example: 7
26 KN force is the resultant of two forces, one of which is shown in
figure. Determine other force.

Answer: Other force P = 18.11 kN

makes an angle 83.65o with respect
to horizontal axis.
Example: 8
Determine the resultant of the system of forces acting on body as
shown in figure. Take co-ordinate direction as shown in figure.

Answer:
R = 183.764 N
θ = 8.050
Example: 9
The two forces P and Q are acting on a bolt at A, as shown in Figure. Determine
the magnitude and direction of the resultant.

Answer:
R = 91.23 N
θ = 67.97°

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