Statics and Dynamics - Mechanical Engineering Practice Questions
1. What is static equilibrium?
Answer: A condition where a system is at rest and the sum of forces and moments equals zero.
2. State the condition for equilibrium of a rigid body.
Answer: The sum of all forces and the sum of all moments must be zero.
3. What is a free body diagram (FBD)?
Answer: A graphical representation of a body and all external forces acting on it.
4. What is the moment of a force?
Answer: The tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis.
5. How is the moment calculated?
Answer: Moment = Force × Perpendicular Distance from pivot.
6. Define a couple in statics.
Answer: Two equal and opposite forces whose lines of action do not coincide, creating rotation.
7. What is the center of gravity?
Answer: The point where the entire weight of a body is considered to act.
8. What is the centroid of an area?
Answer: The geometric center of an area.
9. State Varignon's Theorem.
Answer: The moment of a force about a point is equal to the sum of the moments of its components.
10. What is a support reaction?
Answer: The force or moment developed at a support to maintain equilibrium.
11. Differentiate between a pin and a roller support.
Answer: A pin support resists vertical and horizontal forces; a roller resists only vertical force.
12. What is meant by distributed load?
Answer: A load spread over a certain area or length.
13. What is a resultant force?
Answer: A single force that has the same effect as a system of forces.
14. What is Lami's Theorem?
Answer: Three concurrent forces in equilibrium are proportional to the sine of the angles between
them.
15. Define internal force.
Answer: A force within a body that resists external loads.
16. What is the axial force?
Answer: A force acting along the longitudinal axis of a member.
17. What is a truss?
Answer: A structure made of members connected at joints to support loads.
18. What method is used to analyze trusses?
Answer: Method of joints and method of sections.
19. Define shear force in a beam.
Answer: The internal force parallel to the cross-section of the beam.
20. Define bending moment.
Answer: The internal moment that causes a beam to bend.
21. Where is the maximum bending moment in a simply supported beam with uniform load?
Answer: At the center of the beam.
22. What is the shear force diagram?
Answer: A graph showing variation of shear force along the length of a beam.
23. What is the bending moment diagram?
Answer: A graph showing variation of bending moment along the beam.
24. What is a frame structure?
Answer: A structure composed of multiple members forming a stable configuration.
25. What is the principle of transmissibility of forces?
Answer: A force can be applied anywhere along its line of action without changing its effect.
26. What is Newton's second law?
Answer: F = ma, where force equals mass times acceleration.
27. Define kinematics.
Answer: The study of motion without considering the forces that cause it.
28. Define kinetics.
Answer: The study of forces acting on a body and the motion due to those forces.
29. What is rectilinear motion?
Answer: Motion along a straight line.
30. What is curvilinear motion?
Answer: Motion along a curved path.
31. Define projectile motion.
Answer: A form of motion where an object moves in a curved trajectory under gravity.
32. What is uniform circular motion?
Answer: Motion with constant speed along a circular path.
33. Define angular velocity.
Answer: Rate of change of angular displacement.
34. What is the unit of angular acceleration?
Answer: Radian per second squared (rad/s²).
35. What is the moment of inertia?
Answer: A measure of an object's resistance to angular acceleration.
36. State the work-energy principle.
Answer: Work done by all forces equals the change in kinetic energy.
37. Define impulse.
Answer: Impulse is the product of force and the time interval over which it acts.
38. What is momentum?
Answer: The product of mass and velocity.
39. State the principle of conservation of momentum.
Answer: The total momentum of a system remains constant if no external force acts.
40. What is the difference between static and dynamic friction?
Answer: Static friction acts on stationary objects; dynamic (kinetic) friction on moving objects.
41. Define centripetal force.
Answer: Force required to keep an object moving in a circular path.
42. What is simple harmonic motion?
Answer: A type of periodic motion where the restoring force is proportional to displacement.
43. What is D'Alembert's principle?
Answer: A method that transforms a dynamic problem into a static one by introducing inertial forces.
44. What is the equation of motion for a body under uniform acceleration?
Answer: s = ut + 0.5at²
45. Define free fall.
Answer: Motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting on it.
46. What is the relationship between linear and angular velocity?
Answer: v = romega, where r is radius and omega is angular velocity.
47. Define torque.
Answer: A measure of the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis.
48. What is a rigid body?
Answer: A body that does not deform under force.
49. What is relative velocity?
Answer: The velocity of one body with respect to another.
50. What is the coefficient of restitution?
Answer: A measure of elasticity of collision between two bodies.
