statics (CE-UY-2113)

Static equilibrium for a rigid body: Newton's Law - a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Alternatively, a body at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an external force. Statics analyzes the motion of rigid bodies using Free Body Diagrams.

Scalars are basic quantities without a direction (mass, time, etc.) Vectors are used to describe a quantity with a magnitude (quantity) and direction (angle of application). These notes cover the addition/subtraction/multiplication/division of vectors in a force system. Examples cover breaking down vectors into component forces and determining resultant vectors.

Equilibrium of a particle involves the use of Free Body Diagrams (FBD) to determine all the forces acting on a particle. Equilibrium is used to solve most systems in Statics and Structural Engineering. In Statics, the sum of all forces and moments are equal to zero.

Forces applied to bodies can be defined as a system of forces or moments. When two or more forces or moments are combined, the combination is called a resultant. Any force system can be simplified about a point to a resultant consisting of one force and one couple (either or both of which may be zero). The force is applied to the point and is the vector sum of all of the forces in the system. Use of Cross Products, Dot Products, and Couple Moments.

Mechanics is the physical science that deals with the behavior of bodies under the influence of forces. The course covers: vector treatment of the static equilibrium of particles & rigid bodies; equivalent forces and couple systems; distributed forces; static analysis of determinate beams, trusses, and frames; and determination of centroids, center of gravity, and moment of inertia.