MECHANICS

Mechanics is a branch of the physical sciences that is concerned with the state of rest or
motion of bodies subjected to the action of forces.

Engineering mechanics is divided into two areas of study, namely, statics and dynamics.

STATICS:
is concerned with the equilibrium of a body that is either at rest or moves with constant
velocity.

DYNAMICS:
deals with the accelerated motion of a body.

The subject of dynamics will be presented in two parts:

Kinematics: which treats only the geometric aspects of the motion, and
Kinetics: which is the analysis of the forces causing the motion.

The discussion is followed as:

1. The dynamics of a particle
2. The dynamics of rigid-bodies in two and then three dimensions.
 DYNAMICS
Historically, the principles of dynamics developed when it was possible
to make an accurate measurement of time.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was one of the first major contributors to this
field.
His work consisted of experiments using pendulums and falling bodies.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who is noted for his formulation of the three
Fundamental laws of motion and the law of universal gravitational
attraction.

Important techniques for application of these laws were developed

by Euler, D' Alembert, Lagrange, and others.
 PROBLEM SOLVING
Dynamics is considers the forces applied to a body
and its motion must be taken into account.

Many applications require using calculus, rather than

just algebra and trigonometry.

The most effective way of learning the principles of

dynamics is to solve problems.
 STEPS FORPROBLEM SOLVING
1. Read the problem carefully and try to correlate the actual
physical situation with the theory you have studied.

2. Draw any necessary diagrams and tabulate the problem data.

3. Establish a coordinate system and apply the relevant principles,

generally in mathematical form.

4. Solve the necessary equations algebraically as far as practical;

then, use a consistent set of units and complete the solution
numerically.

Report the answer with no more significant figures than the

accuracy of the given data.
 PROBLEM SOLVING
5. Study the answer using technical judgment and common
sense to determine whether or not it seems reasonable.

6. Once the solution has been completed, review the

problem.
Try to think of other ways of obtaining the same solution.

• In applying this general procedure, do the work as neatly

as possible.

• Being neat generally stimulates clear and orderly thinking,

and vice versa.
 RECTILINEAR KINEMATICS: CONTINUOUS MOTION

The study of dynamics starts by discussing the kinematics o f a particle

that moves along a rectilinear or straight line path.

Recall that a particle has a mass but negligible size and shape.

Therefore we consider the objects that have dimensions that are of no

consequence in the analysis of the motion.

Some time we are interested in bodies of finite size, such as

rockets, projectiles, or vehicles, each of these objects can be considered
as a particle, as long as the motion is characterized by the motion of its
mass center and any rotation of the body is neglected.
 RECTILINEAR KINEMATICS.

The kinematics of a particle is

characterized by specifying,
at any given instant, the particle's
position, velocity, and acceleration.
 POSITION
The straight-line path of a particle is defined using a single coordinate axis s.
The origin O on the path is a fixed point, and from this point the position coordinate
s is used to specify the location of the particle at any given instant.

The magnitude of s is the distance from O to the particle, usually measured in

meters (m) or feet (ft), and the sense of direction is defined by the algebraic
sign on s.

Although the choice is arbitrary, in this case s is positive since the coordinate axis is
positive to the right of the origin. Likewise, it is negative if the particle is located to
the left of O.
Position is a vector quantity since it has both magnitude and direction.
Here, however, it is being represented by the algebraic scalar s since the direction
always remains along the coordinate axis.
 DISPLACEMENT
Displacement of the particle is defined as the change in its position.
For example, if the particle moves from one point to another, Fig., the
displacement is
∆s=s’-s

In this case ∆s is positive since the particle's final position is to the right
of its initial position, i.e., s’ > s.
Likewise, if the final position were to the left of its initial position, ∆s
would be negative.
The displacement of a particle is a vector quantity, and it should be
distinguished from the distance the particle travels.
The distance traveled is a positive scalar that represents the
total length of path over which the particle travels.
 VELOCITY
If the particle moves through a displacement ∆s during the time
interval ∆t, the average velocity of the particle during this time
interval is

If we take smaller and smaller values of ∆t, the magnitude of ∆s

becomes smaller and smaller.
Consequently, the instantaneous velocity is a vector defined as

or
……………………… (1)
 VELOCITY
Since ∆t or dt is always positive, the sign used to define the sense of
the velocity is the same as that of ∆ s or ds.
For example, if the particle is moving to the right, Fig. , the velocity is
positive; whereas if it is moving to the left, the velocity is negative.
(This is emphasized here by the arrow written at the left of Eq.1.)
The magnitude of the velocity is known as the speed, and it is
generally expressed in units of m/s or ft/s.
 VELOCITY
Occasionally, the term "average speed" is used. The average speed is
always a positive scalar and is defined as the total distance traveled
by a particle, ST, divided by the elapsed time ∆t; i.e.,

For example, the particle in Fig. travels

along the path of length ST in time ∆t.
so
Its average speed is ( vsp)avg = sT /∆t

but:

its average velocity is vavg = -∆s /∆t.

 ACCELERATION
Provided the velocity of the particle is known at two points, the average
acceleration of the particle during the time interval ∆t is defined as

Here ∆V represents the difference in the velocity during the time interval ∆t,
i.e., ∆ v = v' - v
The instantaneous acceleration at time t is a vector that is found by
taking smaller and smaller values of ∆ t and corresponding smaller and
smaller values of ∆ v, so that

or ……………….. (2)

Substituting Eq. 1 into this

result, we can also write
 ACCELERATION
Both the average and instantaneous acceleration can be either positive or negative.
In particular, when the particle is slowing down, or its speed is decreasing, the
particle is said to be decelerating.

In this case, v' in Fig. is less than v, and so ∆v = v' - v will be negative.

Consequently, a will also be negative, and

therefore it will act to the left, in the
opposite sense to v. Also, note that when
the velocity is constant, the acceleration is
zero since ∆v = v - v = O.

Units commonly used to express the

magnitude of acceleration are m/s2 or ft/s2.
 EQUATIONS OF MOTIONS (ACCELERATION)
An important differential relation involving the displacement, velocity,
and acceleration along the path may be obtained by eliminating the
time differential dt between Eqs. 1 and 2, which gives

ds
v  ( 1 )
dt
dv
a  ( 2 )
dt
ads=vdv ……………….. (3)

Although we have now produced three important kinematic

equations, realize that the above equation is not
independent of Eqs. 1 and 2.
 EQUATIONS OF MOTIONS
(CONSTANT ACCELERATION, A =AC.)
When the acceleration is constant, each of the three
kinematic equations :

ac = dv/dt

v = ds/dt

ac ds = v dv

can be integrated to obtain formulas that relate ac , v, s,

and t.
 EQUATIONS OF MOTIONS
(VELOCITY AS A FUNCTION OF TIME)
Integrate: ac = dv/dt

assuming that initially v = v0 when t = O.

v t

 dv   ac dt
vo 0

v  vo  a  t  a  0

v  vo  at  ( 4 )

Constant acceleration
 EQUATIONS OF MOTIONS
(POSITION ASA FUNCTION OF TIME)
ds
Integrate v  vo  at  ( 4 )
dt

Assuming that initially s=so when t=0

s t

 ds   ( v
so 0
o  ac t )dt

s t t

 ds   v dt   a tdt
so 0
o
0
c

1
s  so  vo t  ac t 2
2
1
s  so  vot  act 2  ( 5 )
2

constant acceleration
 EQUATIONS OF MOTIONS
(VELOCITY AS A FUNCTION OF POSITION)
either:
solve for t in Eq. 4 and substitute into Eq. 5.
Or
integrate v dv = ac ds, assuming that initially v = vo at s = so
v s 2 v
v
 vdv   a ds   ac s s
s
c
vo so
2 vo
o

2 2
v v
  ac ( s  so )
o
2 2

v 2  vo2  2ac ( s  so )  ( 6 )

 PROBLEM
The car in Fig. moves in a straight line such that for a short
time its velocity is defined by v = (3t2 + 2t) ft/s,
where t is in seconds.

Determine its position and acceleration when t = 3 s.

When t = 0, s = o.
 PROBLEM SOLUTION
Coordinate System:
The position coordinate extends from the fixed origin 0 to the car, positive to the
right.

Position:
Since v = f(t), the car's position can be determined from v = ds/ dt, since this
equation relates v, s, and t.
Noting that s = 0 when t = 0,
we have

ds
v  ( 3t 2  2t )
dt

s t

    2t ) dt
2
ds ( 3t
0 0
 PROBLEM SOLUTION

t t
s  t t 3 2

0 0

s  t3  t2

when t  3 s

s  ( 3 )3  ( 3 )2  36 ft
 PROBLEM SOLUTION
Acceleration.
Since v = f(t),
the acceleration is determined from a = dv/dt,
since this equation relates a, v, and t.

dv d
a  ( 3t 2  2t )
dt dt

a  6t  2

when t  3 s

a  6( 3 )  2  20 ft
sec 2
 12-1
A car starts from rest and with constant
acceleration achieves a velocity of 15 m/s when
it travels a distance of 200 m.
Determine the acceleration of the car and the
time required.
 12-2
A train starts from rest at a station and travels
with a constant acceleration of 1 m/s2.
Determine the velocity of the train when t = 30s
and the distance traveled during this time.
 12-3.
An elevator descends from rest with an
acceleration of 5 ft/s2 until it achieves a velocity
of 15 ft/s.
Determine the time required and the distance
traveled.
 12-4.
A car is traveling at 15 m/s, when the traffic
light 50 m ahead turns yellow.
Determine the required constant deceleration of
the car and the time needed to stop the car at
the light.
12-5. A particle is moving along a straight line with the acceleration a = (12t + 3t1/2)
ft/s2, where t is in seconds.
Determine the velocity and the position of the particle as a function of time.
When t = 0, v = 0 and s = 15 ft.

dv 1
a  (12t  3t 2 )
dt
t
3
2 t
t t 2
v 0  12 3
v

2 3
0 2 0
v t
1
 dv   (12t  3t
0 0
2
) dt

3
v  6t  2t
2 2
Determine the velocity and the position of the particle as a
function of time.
When t = 0, v = 0 and s = 15 ft.

3
v  6t  2t
2 2
ds  (6t  2t
2
3
2
)dt

t
5
3 t t
t t 2 s 4
3 t
5
6 2  2t  t
15 2
s0 s 15
3 5 0 5 0
0 2 0

4 52 4 52
s  15  2t  t
3
s  2t  t  15
3
5 5
12-6. A ball is released from the bottom of an elevator which is traveling
upward with a velocity of 6 ft/s. If the ball strikes the bottom of the elevator
shaft in 3 s, determine the height of the elevator from the bottom of the
shaft
at the instant the ball is released.
Also, find the velocity of the ball when it strikes the bottom of the shaft.

vO  6 ft / s 1
s  sO  vot  ac t 2 v  vO  at
2
t 3s
sO  0
1
 h  0  6( 3 )  ( 32 ) ( 3 )2 v  6  ( 32.)3
2

s  h
h  12 ft v  9.6 ft / s

v  9.6 ft / s downward
12-2. Ex. A small projectile is fired vertically downward into a fluid
medium with an initial velocity of 60 m/s. Due to the drag
resistance of the fluid the projectile experiences a deceleration
of a = (-0.4v3) m/s2, where v is in m/s. Determine the
projectiles velocity and position 4s after it is fired.
Solution.

a  dv / dt  0.4v 3 Position. Knowing v = f(t), we can obtain the projectile’s

t position from v = ds/dt, since this equation relates s, v
v
 dv /  0.4v   dt and t. Using the initial condtion s = 0, when t = 0, we
3
60
0
have
1
v  {[ 2  0.8t ]1/ 2 }m / s ds 1
60 v  [ 2  0.8t ]1/ 2
dt 60
v  0.559m / s  Ans. s t
1
0 0 60 2
1 / 2
ds  [  0 . 8t ] dt

s  4.43m. Ans.