Chapter 1 : Basic Concepts of

Engineering Mechanics

According to Newton's first law...

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by
an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in
motion with the same speed and in the same direction
unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This law is often called
"the law of inertia".

What does this mean?

This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to keep on doing
what they're doing. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. In
the absence of an unbalanced force, an object in motion will maintain
this state of motion

Effects of Inertia

According to Newton's second law...

Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass.

The greater the mass (of the object being accelerated)
the greater the amount of force needed (to accelerate
the object).

What does this mean?

Everyone unconsciously knows the Second Law. Everyone knows that
heavier objects require more force to move the same distance as lighter
objects

However, the Second Law gives us an exact relationship

between force, mass, and acceleration. It can be expressed as a
mathematical equation:

or
FORCE = MASS times ACCELERATION

Mike's car, which weighs 1,000 kg, is out of gas. Mike is

trying to push the car to a gas station, and he makes the car go
0.05 m/s/s. Using Newton's Second Law, you can compute
how much force Mike is applying to the car.
Answer = 50 newton

According to Newton's third law...

For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.

What does this mean?

This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in
size, but opposite in direction. That is to say that whenever an object
pushes another object it gets pushed back in the opposite direction
equally hard.

Let's study how a rocket works to understand

Newton's Third Law.

The rocket's action is to push down on the ground with the force of
its powerful engines, and the reaction is that the ground pushes the
rocket upwards with an equal force
UP,
UP,
and
AWAY!

Derived/compound units

SI Prefixes

Engineering Mechanics Introduction

Newton's 1st Law of Motion

Newton's 2nd Law of Motion

Newton's 3rd Law of Motion

Past Year Questions

a)

Define a rigid body :Rigid body is deals with the equilibrium of bodies, those that are
either at rest or move with a constant velocity.

Identify each of following to three significant figures and

b)

express each answer in SI unit using an appropriate prefix

i.

45320 kN = 45320 x = 45.3 x N

ii.

568()mm = = 56.8 xm

iii.

0.00563mg = 5.63 x

Past Year Questions

List 5 basic measuring quantities

a)

b)

Length

Time

Mass

Force

Temperature

Express Newtons Third Law o

Newton third law of motion is the force of action and reaction between 2
particles have the same magnitude and line of action with opposite sense
.f Motion.

c) State the different between scale and vector quantities

Scalar quantities

Vector quantities

A quantity that processing magnitude

A quantity processing magnitude and

only

direction