Chapter

1
Statics of Rigid Bodies
Introduction to Mechanics
Learning After finishing this lesson, you are expected to:
Objectives
1. Define various terms related to the principles of statics.
2. Understand the concept of free-body diagrams.
3. Differentiate force systems.
4. Understand the laws and axioms of mechanics.

Topics 1.1. Introduction

1.2 Units of Measurement
1.2. Fundamental Concept
1.3. Force Systems
1.4. Axioms of Mechanics
1.5. Introduction to Free-Body Diagrams

1.1 Introduction
Engineering Mechanics – the science which considers the effects of
forces on rigid bodies.

Engineering Mechanics

Statics Dynamics
s

Force Systems Applications Kinematics Kinetics

Concurrent Trusses Translation Translation

Parallel Centroids Rotation Rotation
Non-Concurrent Friction Plane Motion Plane Motion

Statics – consider the effects and distribution of forces on rigid bodies which
are and remain at rest.

Basic Quantities Used in Mechanics:

1. Length- is used to locate the position of a point in space thereby describe
the size of a physical system. (meter,inch,foot)
2. Time- is conceived as a succession of events. It is only used primarily on
dynamics. (second,minute,hour)
3. Mass- is a measure of a quantity of matter that is used to compare the action
of one body to another. (kilogram,pound mass)
4. Force- is considered as a “push” or “pull” exerted by one body on another.
(Newton, pound)
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Chapter
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Statics of Rigid Bodies
Fundamental Modeling Definitions/Assumptions:
• Particle- A particle has a mass but a size that can be neglected.
• Rigid Body- A combination of large number of particles which remain fixed
after a load is applied.
• Concentrated Force- A force assumed to act entirely at a point.

Newton’s Laws of Motion:

✓ 1st Law (Law of Inertia)
“A particle originally at rest, or moving in a straight line with a constant
velocity, will remain in the state provided the particle is not subjected to an
unbalanced force.”
✓ 2nd Law (Law of Accelerated Motion or Acceleration)
“A particle acted upon by an unbalanced force experiences an
acceleration that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude that
is directly proportional to the unbalanced force.”
✓ 3rd Law (Law of Action and Reaction)
“The mutual forces of action and reaction between two particles are
equal, opposite, and collinear.”

Newton’s Law of Gravitational Attraction

“Two particles of mass (M,m) are mutually attracted with equal and opposite
forces (F and -F) of magnitude F.

𝑴𝒎
𝑭=𝑮
𝒓𝟐
𝑁−𝑚2
where: 𝐺 = 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 6.67 × 10−11 𝑘𝑔2
𝑀 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝑟 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠

For most engineering calculations:

• Earth is one mass (𝑀 = 5.98 × 1024 𝑘𝑔)
• Radius of the Earth (𝑟 = 6378 𝑘𝑚)
𝐺𝑀
• At sea level, 45° latitude, let 𝑔 =
𝑟2

𝑀𝑚
Substituting into previous equation, 𝐹 = 𝐺 :
𝑟2
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑔
𝑾 = 𝒎𝒈

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Chapter
1
Statics of Rigid Bodies
1.2 Units of Measurement
➢ Engineering commonly uses two (2) different system of units:
1. International System of Units (SI) or Metric
2. US Customary or English

➢ SI Prefixes:

➢ Conversion of Units

Illustrative Problems:
1. Convert 2 km/hr into: (a) m/s, (b) fps and (c) mph
Solution:
𝑘𝑚 1000𝑚 1 ℎ𝑟 𝟓 𝒎 𝒎
(a) 2 𝑥 𝑥 = 𝟗 𝒔𝒆𝒄 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟔 𝒔𝒆𝒄
ℎ𝑟 1𝑘𝑚 3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐
5 𝑚 3.28 𝑓𝑡 𝒇𝒕
(b) 9 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝑥 = 𝟏. 𝟖𝟐𝟐𝟒 𝒔𝒆𝒄
1𝑚
𝑘𝑚 1 𝑚𝑖
(c) 2 𝑥 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟒𝟐𝟖 𝒎𝒑𝒉
ℎ𝑟 1.6093 𝑘𝑚

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Chapter
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Statics of Rigid Bodies
2. Convert 52 slug/ft3 into appropriate SI units
Solution:
𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 14.59 𝑘𝑔 1 𝑓𝑡 3 𝒌𝒈
(b) 52 𝑥 𝑥 (0.3048 𝑚) = 𝟐𝟔𝟕𝟗𝟐. 𝟓𝟑𝟏𝟒
𝑓𝑡 3 1 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 𝒎𝟑

1.3 Fundamental Concepts and Definitions

Rigid Body – a definite amount of matter the parts of which are fixed in position
relative to each other.

Force – something that tends to change the state of motion of an object

Effects of Force

Internal External
External Effect – effect of forces considered in the study of engineering
mechanics
Internal Effect – considers the deformation or change in shape of the body
introduced in strength of materials

Characteristics of a Force – a force should contain the following;

1. Magnitude
2. Position of its line of action
3. Direction (or sense) in which the force acts along its line of action

Principle of Transmissibility of a force – states that the external effect of

a force on a body is the same for all points of application along its line of action.

Units of Force commonly used

1. Metric System – Newton (N)
2. English System – Pound (lb)
1 Kip =1000 lb
1 Ton =2000 lb

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Chapter
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Statics of Rigid Bodies
1.3 Force Systems

Force Systems – any arrangement where two or more forces act on a

body or on group of related bodies

Q F

S
Coplanar Force Systems Non-Coplanar Force Systems
Coplanar – when the lines of action of all the forces in a force system lie in
one plane (2D)
Non-Coplanar - when the lines of action of all the forces in a force system
lie in two planes (3D)

Force systems are further classified according to their line of action:

Concurrent Force System – when the line of action of the forces passes
through a single or common point
Parallel Force System – forces whose lines of action are all parallel
Non-Concurrent – forces in which the lines of action neither are parallel nor
intersect in a common point.

Parallel Force Non-Concurrent

Concurrent Force
Systems Force Systems
Systems

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Chapter
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Statics of Rigid Bodies
1.4 Axioms of Mechanics
Fundamental axioms of mechanics are principles which are self-evident facts
which cannot be proved mathematically but can be demonstrated to be true.
1. The parallelogram law: The resultant of two forces is the diagonal of the
parallelogram formed on the vectors of these forces.
2. Two forces are in equilibrium only when equal in magnitude, opposite in
direction and collinear in action.
3. A set of forces in equilibrium may be added to any system of forces
without changing the effect of the original system.
4. Action and reaction forces are equal but oppositely directed.

1.5 Introduction to Free-Body Diagram (FBD)

Free-Body Diagram – a sketch of the isolated body which shows only the
forces acting upon the body
Action or Applied Forces – forces that act on the free body
Reaction Forces – forces exerted by the free body upon other bodies

Free-Body Diagram (FBD)

References:
➢ Beer, F. P., Johnston, E. R., Mazurek, D. F., Cornwell, P. J., Self, B. P.
(2018). Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Statics and Dynamics. United
Kingdom: McGraw-Hill Education
➢ Goodno, B. J., Gere, J. (2018). Statics and Mechanics of Materials. United
States: Cengage Learning
➢ Singer, F. L. (1975). Engineering Mechanics. United Kingdom: Harper &
Row

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Chapter
1
Statics of Rigid Bodies
EXERCISE No. 1

Name: _____________________________________ Course/Year: ___________

Instructor: __________________________________ Rating: ________________

Instruction: Answer the following problems.

PROBLEMS:

1. If a car is traveling at 55 mph, determine its speed in: (a) kph; (b) fpm and
(c)mps.
2. Convert 175 lb/ft3 into appropriate SI units.
3. Give the free-body diagram of the following illustrations

Note: Consider the frictional resistance between the block and the
incline plane

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