Lecture 1
Lecture 1
In this chapter you will study the effect of forces acting on particles in space. First the
relations which exist among the various forces acting on a particle in a state of equilibrium
will be derived and used to determine some of the forces acting on the particle. Later you
will learn how to replace two or more forces acting on a given particle by a single force
having the same effect as the original forces. This single equivalent force is the resultant of
the original forces acting on the particle.
The use of the word “particle” does not imply that our study will be limited to that of small
corpuscles. What it means is that the size and shape of the bodies under consideration will
not significantly affect the solution of the problems treated in this chapter and that all the
forces acting on a given body will be assumed to be applied at the same point. Since such
an assumption is verified in many practical applications, you will be able to solve a number
of engineering problems in this chapter.
2.2 VECTORS
If we have two forces acting at a right angle to each other, one of 4 N and the other of 3 N,
add up to a force of 5 N, not to a force of 7 N. Forces are not the only quantities which
follow the parallelogram law of addition.
As you will see later, displacements, velocities, accelerations, and momenta are other
examples of physical quantities possessing magnitude and direction that are added
according to the parallelogram law. All these quantities can be represented mathematically
by vectors, while those physical quantities which have magnitude but not direction, such
as volume, mass, or energy, are represented by plain numbers or scalars.
Vectors are defined as mathematical expressions possessing magnitude and direction,
which add according to the parallelogram law. Vectors are represented by arrows in the
illustrations and will be distinguished from scalar quantities in this text through the use of
boldface type (P). In longhand writing, a vector may be denoted by drawing a short arrow
above the letter used to represent it (𝑃⃗) or by underlining the letter (𝑃). The last method
may be preferred since underlining can also be used on a typewriter or computer. The
magnitude of a vector defines the length of the arrow used to represent the vector. In this
text, italic type will be used to denote the magnitude of a vector. Thus, the magnitude of the
vector P will be denoted by P.
A vector used to represent a force acting on a given particle has a well-defined point of
application, namely, the particle itself. Such a vector is said to be a fixed, or bound, vector
and cannot be moved without modifying the conditions of the problem. Other physical
quantities, however, such as couples, are represented by vectors which may be freely
moved in space; these vectors are called free vectors. Still other physical quantities, such as
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
forces acting on a rigid body are represented by vectors which can be moved, or slid, along
their lines of action; they are known as sliding vectors
Two vectors which have the same magnitude and the same direction are said to be equal,
whether or not they also have the same point of application equal vectors may be denoted
by the same letter.
The negative vector of a given vector P is defined as a vector having the same magnitude as
P and a direction opposite to that of P; the negative of the vector P is denoted by 2P. The
vectors P and 2P are commonly referred to as equal and opposite vectors. Clearly, we have
In this section and in the remaining sections of the chapter, we will discuss problems
involving the three dimensions of space.
Consider a force F acting at the origin O of the system of rectangular coordinates x, y, z. To
define the direction of F, we draw the vertical plane OBAC containing F. This plane passes
through the vertical y axis; its orientation is defined by the angle 𝝓 it forms with the xy
plane. The direction of F within the plane is defined by the angle 𝜽y that F forms with the y
axis. The force F may be resolved into a vertical component Fy and a horizontal component
Fh; this operation, is carried out in plane OBAC according to the rules developed in the first
part of the chapter. The corresponding scalar components are
𝑭𝒚 = 𝑭 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽𝒚 𝑭𝒉 = 𝑭 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜽𝒚
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
But Fh may be resolved into two rectangular components Fx and Fz along the x and z axes,
respectively. This operation is carried out in the xz plane. We obtain the following
expressions for the corresponding scalar components:
with the x and z axes, we can derive two formulas similar to Fy = F cos θy We thus write
The three angles 𝜽𝒙 , 𝜽𝒚 , 𝜽𝒛 define the direction of the force F; they are more commonly
used for this purpose than the angles 𝜽𝒚 and f introduced at the beginning of this section.
The cosines of 𝜽𝒙 , 𝜽𝒚 , 𝜽𝒛 are known as the direction cosines of the force F.
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
The angle a force F forms with an axis should be measured from the positive side of the
axis and will always be between 0 and 180o. An angle 𝜽𝒙 smaller than 900(acute) indicates
that F (assumed attached to O) is on the same side of the yz plane as the positive x axis;
cos 𝜽𝒙 and Fx will then be positive. An angle 𝜽𝒙 larger than 900 (obtuse) indicates that F is
on the other side of the yz plane; cos 𝜽𝒙 and Fx will then be negative. Therefore, we can
write
⃗𝑭 = 𝑭 (𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽𝒙 𝒊 + 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽𝒚 𝒋 + 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽𝒛 𝒌)
which shows that the force F can be expressed as the product of the scalar F and the vector
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
In many applications, the direction of a force F is defined by the coordinates of two points,
M(x1, y1, z1) and N(x2, y2, z2), located on its line of action Consider the vector MN ، joining M
and N and of the same sense as F. Denoting its scalar components by dx, dy, dz,
respectively, we write:
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = ( 𝒅𝒙 𝒊 + 𝒅𝒚 𝒋 + 𝒅𝒛 𝒌)
𝑴𝑵
The unit vector 𝝀 along the line of action of F (i.e., along the line MN) may be obtained by
dividing the vector MN ، by its magnitude MN. Substituting for MN ، and observing that MN
is equal to the distance d from M to N, we write
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑴𝑵 ( 𝒅𝒙 𝒊 + 𝒅𝒚 𝒋 + 𝒅𝒛 𝒌)
𝝀= =
𝑴𝑵 𝒅
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
SOLUTION
a. Components of the Force
The line of action of the force acting on
the bolt passes through A and B, and
the force is directed from A to B. The
components of the vector AB, which
has the same direction as the force, are
2
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐴𝐵 = √(𝑑𝑥 )2 + (𝑑𝑦 ) + (𝑑𝑧 )2 = 94.3 m
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
27 m
8m
11 m
16 m
SOLUTION
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Chapter Two: Statics of Particles in Space
The resultant R of the forces exerted by the two cables is R = TAB + TAC
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