MAE 241 - Statics

Summer 2009

Dr. Konstantinos A. Sierros

Office Hours: M and W 10:30 – 11:30 (263 ESB new add)
kostas.sierros@mail.wvu.edu
Teaching Blog: http://wvumechanicsonline.blogspot.com
 Textbook

R. C. Hibbeler, STATICS, 12th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New

Jersey USA, 2004, ISBN 0-13-607790-0
 Schedule
Week Day Lecture/Class Topic Assignments/Problems
M General introduction, Units, Methodology, Introduction to force vectors (1.1-2.1) Ch 1
T Vector operations, Cartesian Vectors, Addition of Cartesian vectors (2.1-2.6) 2.1-2.6
1 W Position vectors, Dot product, Condition for particle equillibrium (2.7-3.1) 2.7-3.1
R Free body diagrams, Coplanar force systems, 3D force systems (3.2-3.4) 3.2-3.4
M Moment of a force, Cross product, Vector formulation, Principle of moments (4.1-4.4) 4.1-4.4
T Moment of a couple, Simplification of force-couple systems (4.5-4.9) 4.5-4.9
2W Rigid body equillibrium, Free body diagrams, Equations of equillibrium (5.1-5.3) 5.1-5.3
R Force members, Free body diagrams, Equillibrium, Constraints (5.4-5.7) 5.4-5.7
M Exam 1 and Simple trusses (6.1)
T Method of joints, sections (6.1-6.4) 6.1-6.4
3W Space trusses, frames and machines (6.5-6.6) 6.5-6.6
R Internal forces, Shear and moment equations (7.1-7.2) 7.1-7.2
M Distributed loads, shear and moment relations, cables (7.3-7.4) 7.3-7.4
T Dry friction, Wedges, Frictional forces on screws (8.1-8.4) 8.1-8.4
4W Frictional forces on flat belts, bearing, disks, rolling resistance (8.5-8.8) 8.5-8.8
R Review 1 Revice Ch 1-8
M Exam 2 and Center of gravity, mass centroid (9.1) 9.1
T Composite bodies, Pappus and Guldinus (9.1-9.3) 9.1-9.3
5W Distributed loading, fluid pressure (9.4-9.5) 9.4-9.5
R Moments of inertia, Parallel axis theorem, Radius of gyration (10.1-10.3) 10.1-10.3
M Composite areas, product of inertia,inclined axes (10.4-10.6) 10.4-10.6
T Mohr's circle and start of final review (10.7) 10.7 (Revice Ch 1-10)
6W Review 2 Revice Ch 1-10
R Final exam
 Chapter 1: General principles

Objectives
• Intro to the basic quantities and
idealizations of mechanics
• Newton’s laws
• SI unit system
• Numerical calculations procedure
• General guide for problem solving
 1.1 Mechanics
Mechanics is a branch of physics that is concerned with the state of
rest or motion of bodies that are subjected to the action of forces
Mechanics

Rigid-body Fluid
Deformable-body

Rigid-body mechanics

Statics Dynamics

Statics deals with the equilibrium of bodies that are either at rest
or move with constant velocity. Dynamics is dealing with bodies
in accelerated motion
 History
The subjects of statics developed very early in history because its
principles can be formulated simply from measurements of geometry
and force

Archimedes Galileo Galilei

(287-212 B.C.) (1564-1642.)
Pendulums, falling
Lever principle bodies

Newton Euler
(1642-1727) D’Alembert
Langrange
3 Fundamental laws
…and others…
 1.2 Fundamental concepts

Basic quantities
• Length is used to locate the position of a point in
space and describe the size of a physical system
• Time is conceived as a succession of events
• Mass is a measure of a quantity of matter that is
used to compare the action of one body with that
of another
• Force is considered as ‘push’ or ‘pull’ exerted by
one body or another.
- Direct contact (eg. A person pushing a wall)
- Distant action (gravitational, electrical, magnetic
forces)
 1.2 Fundamental concepts

Idealizations
We use some idealizations in order to simplify the
application of theory
Particle: It has a mass, but its size can be neglected
(eg size of earth is insignificant as compared to the
size
of its orbit)
When a body is modelled as a particle, mechanics
become simpler since the geometry of the body is not
involved in the analysis of the problem
 1.2 Fundamental concepts
Idealizations
A Rigid body can be considered as a combination of a large number of
particles in which all the particles remain at a fixed distance from one
another, both before and after applying a load
A Concentrated force represents the effect of a loading which is assumed
to act at a point on a body. (eg. Contact force between wheel and
ground)
 Newton’s three laws of motion
The basis of engineering mechanics is formed by Newton’s three laws
of motion. These laws, based on experimental observation, apply to
the motion of a particle as measured from a nonaccelerating reference
frame.

1st Law
A particle originally at rest, or moving in
a straight line with constant velocity, tends to
remain in this state provided the particle is not
Subjected to an unbalanced force
 Newton’s three laws of motion
2nd Law
A particle acted upon by an unbalanced force F experiences an
acceleration a that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude
directly proportional to the force

F = ma
 Newton’s three laws of motion

3rd Law
The mutual forces of action and reaction between two particles
are equal, opposite, and collinear
Newton’s law of gravitational attraction

F is force of gravitation between two particles

G is constant of gravitation measured
experimentally, G=66.73*10-12 m3/(kg s2)
m1,m2 represent the mass of each particle
r is the distance between the two particles
 Newton’s law of gravitational attraction
Weight
According to the equation described, any two particles
have a mutual attractive (gravitational) force acting between them

For a particle located at the surface of the earth (or close enough) the
only gravitational force, of significant magnitude, is that between the
earth and the particle. This force is termed weight.
If we put m1 = m and m2 = Me (mass of earth) and r is distance between
the particle and the earth’s center

Letting g=GMe/r2, then W = mg

Units of measurement
Conversion of units
 The International System of units

SI is used throughout

Rules for use

(please read carefully page 10)
 Numerical calculations
Dimensional homogeneity: Each term in an equation must be expressed
in the same units
Significant figures: Number of significant figures determines accuracy of
the number. Use engineering notation.
Rounding off numbers: Any numerical figure ending in five or greater is
rounded up and a number less less than five is rounded down
Calculations: Do not round off calculations until expressing the final
result. Round off the answer to three significant figures
 General procedure for analysis

• Read the problem carefully and correlate physical situation with

theory
• Tabulate the problem data and draw diagrams
• Apply the relevant principles, generally
with equations
• Solve the equations and report the answer
• Judge the answer in technical terms and
common sense to determine whether the
answer seems reasonable
 Chapter 2:Force vectors

Objectives
• To show how to add forces and
resolve them into components
using the Parallelogram Law
• Cartesian vectors
• Introduce dot product
 2.1 Scalars and vectors

A scalar is any positive or negative physical quantity that can be

completely specified by its magnitude (eg. length, mass, time)
A vector is any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude
and a direction for its complete description (eg. force, moment)