3/1/2023

Engineering Mechanics

Lecture 3

Engr. Danish Saeed

Lecturer
Department of Civil Engineering
KFUEIT, RYK

Scaler and Vector Quantities

 Many physical quantities in engineering mechanics are measured using
either scalars or vectors.
 Scalar. A scalar is any positive or negative physical quantity that can be
completely specified by its magnitude.
 Examples of scalar quantities include length, mass, and time.

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Scaler and Vector Quantities

 Vector. A vector is any physical quantity that requires both a
magnitude and a direction for its complete description.
 Examples of vectors encountered in statics are force, position, and
moment.
 A vector is shown graphically by an arrow.

Scaler and Vector Quantities

 The length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the vector, and
the angle θ between the vector and a fixed axis defines the direction of
its line of action.
 The head or tip of the arrow indicates the sense of direction of the
vector, as shown in figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Representation of aVector

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Scaler and Vector Quantities

 In print, vector quantities are represented by boldface letters such as

A, and the magnitude of a vector is written in italics, A.

 For handwritten work, it is often convenient to denote a vector

quantity by simply drawing an arrow above it, 𝐴 .

Vector Operations
 Multiplication and Division of a Vector by a
Scalar.
 If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its
magnitude is increased by that amount.
 Multiplying by a negative scalar will also change the
directional sense of the vector.
Figure 3-2: Scaler
 Graphic examples of these operations are shown in Multiplication and Division
figure 3-2.

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Vector Operations
 Vector Addition.

 When adding two vectors together it is important to consider both

their magnitudes and their directions.
 To do this we must use the parallelogram law of addition.

 The procedure for adding two vector components A and B to get

resultant vector R = A + B is given on next slides

Vector Addition
 Join the tails of the components at a point to make them concurrent,
as shown in figure 4-3(b).

Figure 3-3(b)

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Vector Addition
 From the head of B, draw a line parallel to A.

 Draw another line from the head of A that is parallel to B.

 These two lines intersect at point P to form the adjacent sides of a

parallelogram.

Figure 3-3(b)

Vector Addition
 The diagonal of this parallelogram that extends to P forms R, which
then represents the resultant vector R = A + B.

Figure 3-3(c)

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Vector Addition
 We can also add B to A, Fig. 3–4, using the triangle rule, which is a
special case of the parallelogram law.
 In this method, vector B is added to vector A using a “head-to-tail”
rule i.e., by connecting the head of A to the tail of B as shown in
figure 4-4.

Figure 3-4

Vector Operations
 The resultant R extends from the tail of A to the head of B.

 In a similar manner, R can also be obtained by adding A to B, figure 3-

5.
 Vectors can be added in either order, i.e.,

 R=A+B=B+A

Figure 3-5

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Vector Addition
 As a special case, if the two vectors A and B are collinear, i.e., both
have the same line of action, the parallelogram law reduces to an
algebraic or scalar addition R = A + B, as shown in figure 3-6.

Figure 3-6

Vector Subtraction
 The resultant of the difference between two vectors A and B of the
same type may be expressed as;

 This vector sum is shown graphically in figure 3-7.

Figure 3-7

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Vector Addition of Forces

 A force is a vector quantity since it has a specified magnitude,
direction, and sense and it adds according to the parallelogram law.
 Two common problems in statics involve either finding the resultant
force, knowing its components, or resolving a known force into two
components.

The parallelogram law must be used to

determine the resultant of the two forces
acting on the hook.

Finding a Resultant
 The two component forces F1 and F2 acting on the pin in Fig. 3-8 can
be added together to form the resultant force FR = F1 + F2,

Figure 3-8

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Finding a Resultant
 Magnitude and direction of of resultant force FR can be found using
law of cosines or sines.
 Law of Cosines; 𝐹 = 𝐹 + 𝐹 − 2𝐹 𝐹 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛾

 𝐹 = 𝐹 + 𝐹 − 2𝐹 𝐹 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛾

Finding the Components of a Force.

 Sometimes it is necessary to resolve a force into two components in
order to study its pulling or pushing effect in two specific directions.
 For example, in Fig. 3–9a, F is to be resolved into two components
along the two members, defined by the u and v axes.

Figure 3-9
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Finding the Components of a Force.

 Using the parallelogram law the supporting force F can be resolved
into components acting along the u and v axes.

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Finding the Components of a Force.

 In order to determine the magnitude of each component, a
parallelogram is constructed first, by drawing lines starting from the
tip of F, one line parallel to u, and the other line parallel to v.
 These lines then intersect with the v and u axes, forming a
parallelogram.

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Figure 3-9

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Finding the Components of a Force.

 The force components Fu and Fv are then established by simply joining
the tail of F to the intersection points on the u and v axes.

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Figure 3-9

Finding the Components of a Force.

 This parallelogram can then be reduced to a triangle, which represents
the triangle rule, as shown in figure 5-1c.
 From this, the law of sines can then be applied to determine the
unknown magnitudes of the components.

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Figure 3-9

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Addition of Several Forces.

 If more than two forces are to be added, successive applications of the
parallelogram law can be carried out in order to obtain the resultant
force.
 For example, if three forces F1, F2, F3 act at a point O, as shown in
figure 3-10

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Figure 3-10

Addition of Several Forces.

 The resultant of any two of the forces is found, say, F1 + F2 and then
this resultant is added to the third force, yielding the resultant of all
three forces; i.e., FR = (F1 + F2) + F3.

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Figure 5-2

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Laws of sines and cosines

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Example
 The screw eye in Fig. 3–11a is subjected to two forces, F1 and F2.
Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.

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Figure 3-11a

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Example
Solution:
Parallelogram Law.
The parallelogram is formed by drawing
a line from the head of F1 that is parallel
to F2, and another line from the head of
F2 that is parallel to F1.
The resultant force FR extends to
where these lines intersect at point A as
shown in figure 3-11b.
Figure 3-11b
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Example
Solution:
Trigonometry.
From the parallelogram, the vector
triangle is constructed, Fig. 3–11c.
Using the law of cosines;

Figure 3-11c

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Example
Solution:
Trigonometry.
Applying the law of sines to determine θ,

Thus, the direction Φ (phi) of FR, measured

from the horizontal, is
Figure 3-11c

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Example 2
Resolve the horizontal 600-lb force in Fig. 3–12a into components acting
along the u and v axes and determine the magnitudes of these
components.

Figure 3-12a
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Example 2
The parallelogram is constructed by
extending a line from the head of
the 600-lb force parallel to the v axis
until it intersects the u axis at point B.
The arrow from A to B represents Fu.
Similarly, the line extended from the
head of the 600-lb force drawn
parallel to the u axis intersects the v
axis at point C, which gives Fv.
Figure 3-12b
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Example 2
The vector addition using the triangle rule is
shown in Fig. 3–12c.
The two unknowns are the magnitudes of Fu
and Fv.
Applying the law of sines,

Figure 3-12c

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Example 3
Determine the magnitude of the
component force F in Fig. 3–13a and
the magnitude of the resultant force
FR if FR is directed along the
positive y axis.

Figure 3-13a
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Example 3
The parallelogram law of addition is shown in Fig. 3–13b, and the
triangle rule is shown in Fig. 3–13c.
The magnitudes of FR and F are the two unknowns.
They can be determined by applying the law of sines.

34 Figure 3-13b Figure 3-13c

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Example 4
It is required that the resultant force
acting on the eyebolt in Fig. 3–16a be
directed along the positive x axis and that
F2 have a minimum magnitude. Determine
this magnitude, the angle θ, and the
corresponding resultant force.

Figure 3-16a
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Example 4
The triangle rule for FR = F1 + F2 is shown in Fig. 3–16b.

Figure 3-16b
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Example 4
Since the magnitudes (lengths) of FR
and F2 are not specified, then F2 can
actually be any vector that has its head
touching the line of action of FR, Fig.
3–16c.
However, as shown, the magnitude of
F2 is a minimum or the shortest length
when its line of action is perpendicular
to the line of action of FR, that is, Figure 3-16c
when θ = 90o.
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Example 4
Since the vector addition now forms
the shaded right triangle, the two
unknown magnitudes can be obtained
by trigonometry.

Figure 3-16c

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Reference Books
Book Title (Edition) Author Chapter/Topic Number

Engineering Mechanics – R. C. Hibbler Chapter 2

Statics & Dynamics (14th) Topics 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Examples 2.1 to 2.4

Vector Mechanics for Ferdinand P. Beer, Chapter 2

Engineers - Statics and E. Russell Johnston, Jr, Topics 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6
Dynamics (10th) Phillip J. Cornwell Examples 2.1 and 2.2

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