INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICS Internal Forces

Mechanics - Force within a material, holding it together

- can be defined as that branch of the physical External Forces

sciences concerned with the state of rest or
- Forces acting on a structure from the outside,
motion of bodies that are subjected to the action
causing potential deformation.
of forces.
Force System
Statics
- refers to a collection or arrangement of forces
- deals with the equilibrium of bodies, that is, it is
acting on a body
used to determine the forces acting either external
to the body or within it that are necessary to keep Concurrent Force System:
the body in equilibrium
• All forces in the system have a common point of
Important Points: intersection.
• A particle has a mass but a size that can be • The vector sum of these forces determines the
neglected, and a rigid body does not deform under resultant force and its point of action.
load.
• Examples include forces acting at a single point,
• A force is considered as a “push” or “pull” of one
such as the forces on a joint or the forces applied at a
body on another.
specific location on an object.
• Concentrated forces are assumed to act at a point
on a body. Parallel Force System:
Statics of Rigid Bodies • Forces in the system have parallel lines of action,
meaning their lines of action do not intersect.
- Refers to the branch of mechanics that deals with
• The vector sum of these forces determines the
the study of forces and equilibrium conditions
resultant force and its point of action.
acting on rigid bodies that are at rest or in a state
of constant motion. • Examples include forces acting along a straight
beam or loads applied vertically on a structure.
Equilibrium
Non-Concurrent and Non-Parallel Force System:
- The sum of all forces acting on a body is zero.
• Forces neither have a common point of
Force intersection nor parallel lines of action.
- Represents the interaction between two objects, • The vector sum of forces determines the resultant
resulting in a push or pull force, and its point of action may not be easily
- The influence that can change the motion or determined graphically.
shape of an object • This type of system is more complex and may
require vector analysis or the use of equilibrium
Types of Forces equations.
Contact Forces Moment of a Force
- Act only on a body through direct physical The moment of a force, also known as torque, is a
contact measure of its tendency to cause a body to rotate
about a specific point or axis. It is a vector quantity and
Body Forces
depends on both the magnitude of the force and its
- Act on a body without direct contact, usually distance from the point or axis of rotation.
through a field
M = Fd
PRINCIPLES OF MOMENTS

The moment of a force with respect to any axis (or

point) is equal to the algebraic sum of the moments of
its components with respect to the same axis.

Moment of Inertia
is a property of a shape that describes its resistance
to rotational motion around an axis. It is an essential
concept in mechanics, especially when analyzing
EQUILIBRIUM OF FORCE SYSTEMS rotational dynamics and stability in engineering
structures.
Free Body Diagram (FBD)
Physical Interpretation: Moment of Inertia is
- is a visual representation used to isolate a body
from its environment, showing all external forces
analogous to mass in linear motion but applies to
and moments acting on the body. It simplifies the rotational motion. A body with a higher moment of
analysis of forces acting on a structure. inertia resists rotational acceleration more than a
body with a lower moment of inertia.
✓ In engineering mechanics, we primarily deal with
the second moment of area, particularly when
calculating bending stresses and analyzing the
stability of beams and structural components.
Applications in Engineering
• Beam Bending: Helps determine bending
stresses in beams and deflection when loads are
applied.
• Structural Analysis: Used to analyze load
distribution, stiffness, and stability of columns
and beams.
Common Formulas for Moment of Inertia Centroids of areas and centers of gravity of bodies are
located in a manner similar to the method used in
locating the resultant of parallel and general force
systems that is using Varignon's Theorem.

Varignon's Theorem

"The moment of the total area or length is equal to the

sum of the moments of the differential areas or length
about the same axis of rotation."

DYNAMICS OF RIGID BODIES

(RECTILINEAR MOTION)

Dynamics

Branch of mechanics which deals with the motion of

bodies under the action of forces

Two Distinct Parts

Kinematics

Study of the geometry of motion. The principles of

kinematics relate the displacement, velocity,
acceleration, and time of a body’s motion, without
reference to the cause of motion.
Parallel Axis Theorem
Kinetics
The Parallel Axis Theorem allows calculation of the
Study of the relation between the forces acting on a
Moment of Inertia of an area about any axis parallel to
body, the mass, and the motion of the body. We use
an axis through its centroid.
kinetics to predict the motion caused by the given
forces or to determine the forces required to produce
motion.

A particle moving along a straight line is said to be in

rectilinear motion. The only variables we need to
describe this motion are the time 𝑡, and the distance
CENTROIDS AND CENTER OF GRAVITY
along the line 𝑥, as a function of time. With these
Centroid variables, we can define the particle’s position,
velocity, and acceleration, which completely describe
of an area occupies the same position of the center of the particle’s motion.
gravity of a homogeneous flat plate whose thickness
approaches. It refers to the center of gravity of the CURVILINEAR MOTION
surface of an area wherein weight is negligible.
Curvilinear motion occurs when a particle moves
Center of Gravity along a curved path. Since this path is often described
in three dimensions, vector analysis will be used to
is the point in the body through which the weight formulate the particle’s position, velocity, and
(gravitational force) is concentrated. acceleration
Sample Problem:

The track for this racing event was designed so that

riders jump off the slope at 30° from a height of 1 m.
During a race it was observed that the rider shown
below remained in mid-air for 1.5 s. Determine the
speed at which he was traveling off the ramp, the
horizontal distance he travels before striking the
ground, and the maximum height he attains. Neglect
the size of the bike and rider.

Stephen Curry was able to shoot the basketball even

though it barely cleared the hands of player B who
attempted to block it. Neglecting the size of the ball,
determine the magnitude of its initial velocity and the
height of the ball when it passes over player B.