Made By: Dr.

Nishant Singh
LESSON 1. BASIC CONCEPTS
1.1 INTRODUCTION

Mechanics is the physical science concerned with the behaviour of bodies that are acted upon by forces.
Statics is the study which deals with the condition of bodies in equilibrium subjected to external forces.
In other words, when the force system acting on a body is balanced, the system has no external effect on the body,
the body is in equilibrium.
Dynamics is also a branch of mechanics in which the forces and their effects on the bodies in motion are studied.
Dynamics is sub-divided into two parts: (1) Kinematics and (2) Kinetics
Kinematics deals with the geometry of motion of bodies without and application of external forces.
Kinetics deals with the motion of bodies with the application of external forces.
Hydromechanics is the study which deals with the conditions of fluid under which it can remain at rest or in motion.
Hydromechanics can be divided into hydrostatics and hydrodynamics.
Hydrostatics is the study of fluid at rest.
Hydrodynamics is the study of fluid in motion.
 A body is said to be rigid if it retains its shape and size even if the external forces are applied on it. It is
called a rigid body.

1.2 SOME BASIC TERMS USED IN MECHANICS

The followings are the basic terms which are used in mechanics:
Mass: The quantity of the matter possessed by a body is called mass. The mass of a body cannot change unless the
body is damaged and part of it is physically separated.
Length: It is a concept to measure linear distances.
Time: Time is the measure of succession of events. The successive event selected is the rotation of earth about its
own axis and this is called a day.
Space: Any geometric region in which the study of a body has been done is called space.
Displacement: It is defined as the distance moved by a body/particle in the specified direction.
Velocity: The rate of change of displacement with respect to time is defined as velocity.
Acceleration: It is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.
Momentum: The product of mass and velocity is called momentum. Thus
Momentum = Mass × Velocity
Particle: It can be defined as an object which has only mass and no size.
 Such a body cannot exist theoretically.
 When we deal with the problems involving distances considerably larger compared to the size of the body,
the body may be treated as particle.

1.3 LAWS OF MECHANICS

The following are the fundamental laws of mechanics:

(i) Newton’s first law

(ii) Newton’s second law
(iii) Newton’s third law
(iv) Newton’s law of gravitation
(v) Law of transmissibility of forces
(vi) Parallelogram law of forces
Law of transmissibility of forces and law of parallelogram of forces will be discussed in coming lessons. Let us discuss
the remaining laws:

(i) Newton’s first law: It states that everybody continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line
unless it is compelled by an external agency acting on it.
Made By: Dr. Nishant Singh
(ii) Newton’s second law: It states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the
impressed force and it takes place in the direction of the force acting on it.

According to this law,

Force = rate of change of momentum. But momentum = mass × velocity
As mass do not change,
Force = mass × rate of change of velocity
i.e., Force = mass × acceleration = F = m × a
(iii) Newton’s third law: It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

1.4 UNITS AND DIMENSIONS OF QUANTITIES

1.4.1 Units: Measurements are always made in comparison with certain standards. For example, when we say that
cloth piece is 2.5 metres long, the measurement of length is with respect to a scale on which graduations are
marked. In turn, the graduation of the scale must have been made according to a national or an international
standard. The standard so chosen for the measurement of length is called the unit of length. In this example, ‘metre’
is the unit of length.

Similarly, for the measurement of time, weight, current, speed etc, different units are used.

Each physical quantity is measured for the purpose of analysis, study, comparison, experimentation/results, design
etc. with the help of measuring units by comparison.

There are four systems of units used for the measurement of physical quantities. viz. FPS (Foot – Pound – Second)
system, CGS (Centimetre – Gram – Second) system, MKS (Meter - Kilogram – Second) system and SI (System
international dꞌunits – the French name)

The SI system of units is said to be an absolute system.

S.I Units (International System of Units)

The fundamental units of the system are metre (m) for length, kilogram (kg) for mass and second (s) for time.

The unit for force is newton (N). One newton is the amount of force required to induce an acceleration of 1
m/sec2 on one kg mass. Weight of a body (in N) = Mass of the body (in kg ) × Acceleration due to gravity (in m/sec2).

1.4.2 Dimensions

The branch of mathematics dealing with dimensions of quantities is called dimensional analysis. There are two
systems of dimensional analysis viz. absolute system and gravitational system.
Absolute system (MLT system)
 A system of units defined on the basis of length, time and mass is referred to as an absolute system.
 According to SI system of units, three basic units metre, second and kilogram can be used. In MLT system,
M refers to Mass, L refers to Length and T refers to Time.
Gravitational system (FLT system)
 A system of units defined on the basis of length, time and force is referred to as a gravitational system.
 In this system, force is measured in a gravitational field. Thus, its magnitude depends upon the location
where the measurement is made. FLT system refers to the Force-Length-Time system.
The dimensions of basic quantities in MLT and FLT systems are shown in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Dimensions of quantities in MLT and FLT systems
Quantity MLT-System FLT-system Quantity MLT-System FLT-system

Length L L Momentum MLT–1 FT

Mass M FL-1T2 Stress ML-1T-2 FL-2

Area L2 L2 Weight MLT-2 F

Made By: Dr. Nishant Singh
Volume L3 L3 Force MLT-2 F

Velocity LT-1 LT-1 Power ML2T-3 FLT-1

Acceleration LT-2 LT-2 Density ML-3 FL-4T3

1.5 Quantity: Quantities can be expressed in terms of units (such as liters, meters, kilograms, etc.) for physical
objects, or as numbers for discrete items. Quantities can be categorized into:

Scalar Quantity: A quantity is said to be scalar if it is completely defined by its magnitude alone. Examples of scalar
quantities are:
Area, length, Mass, Moment of inertia, Energy, Power, Volume and Work etc.
Vector Quantity: A quantity is said to be vector if it is completely defined only when its magnitude as well as
direction are specified. Examples of vector quantities include:
Force, Moment, Momentum, Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration.
Made By: Dr. Nishant Singh
LESSON 2. FORCE SYSTEM
2.1 INTRODUCTION

Definition of ‘force’ can be given in several ways. Most simply it can be defined as ‘the cause of change in the state
of motion of a particle or body’. It is of course, the product (multiplication) of mass of the particle and its
acceleration.
Force is the manifestation of action of one particle on the other. It is a vector quantity.

2.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF A FORCE

A Force has following basic characteristics

i) Magnitude
ii) Direction
iii) Point of application
iv) Line of action
Force is represented as a vector i.e. an arrow with its magnitude.
e.g. for the force shown in Fig. 2.1, magnitude of force is 4KN, direction is 40° with the horizontal in fourth quadrant,
point of application is C and line of action is AB.

Fig.2.1 Characteristics of a force

Smaller magnitudes of forces are measured in newton (N) and larger in kilo Newton (KN).

2.3 SYSTEMS OF FORCES

When a mechanics problem or system has more than one force acting, it is known as a ‘force system’ or ‘system of
force’.

Fig.2.2 Force System

2.3.1 Collinear Force System: When the lines of action of all the forces of a system act along the same line, this
force system is called collinear force system.
2.3.2 Parallel Forces: When the lines of action of all the forces of a system act parallel to each other, this force
system is called Parallel force system.
Made By: Dr. Nishant Singh
2.3.3 Coplanar Force System: When the lines of action of a set of forces lie in a single plane is called coplanar force
system.
2.3.4 Non-Coplanar Force System: When the line of action of all the forces do not lie in one plane, is called Non-
coplanar force system
2.3.5 Concurrent Force System: The forces when extended pass through a single point and the point is called point
of concurrency. The lines of actions of all forces meet at the point of concurrency. Concurrent forces may or may
not be coplanar.

2.3.6 Non-concurrent Force System: When the forces of a system do not meet at a common point of concurrency,
this type of force system is called non-concurrent force system. Parallel forces are the example of this type of force
system. Non-concurrent forces may be coplanar or non-coplanar.
2.3.7 Coplanar and concurrent force system: A force system in which all the forces lie in a single plane and meet
at one point, For example, forces acting at a joint of a roof truss (see fig.2.6)
P = External force
F1 to F5 = Member forces (internal) RA and RB = Reactions
C = Point of concurrency

Fig.2.6 Coplanar concurrent force system

2.3.8 Coplanar and non-concurrent force system: These forces do not meet at a common point; however, they lie
in a single plane, for example, forces acting on a beam as shown in Fig.2.7:
Made By: Dr. Nishant Singh

Fig.2.7 Coplanar non-concurrent force system

2.3.9 Non-coplanar and concurrent force system

In this system, the forces lie in a different planes but pass through a single point. Example is forces acting at the top
end of an electrical pole (see Fig.2.8)

Fig.2.8 Non-coplanar and concurrent Force System

2.3.10 Non-coplanar and non-concurrent force system

The forces which do not lie in a single plane and do not pass through a single point are known as non-coplanar and
non-concurrent forces. Example is the loads transferred through columns to the rectangular mat foundation as
shown in Fig.2.10.

Fig. 2.10 Non-coplanar non-concurrent force system