Engineering Statics or mechanics 1 is the most basic course in mechanical engineering and Structural engineering (in Civil engineering). It is the foundation on which the more advanced courses are built. Engineering statics or mechanics 1 topics are listed below for reference.

Topics in statics:

– Concentrated Forces and Their Effects

Learn how to:

– recognize when two bodies interact.

– represent interactions among bodies.

– draw force vectors acting on bodies to show their attributes.

– identify components of forces acting between frictionless contacting bodies.

– understand attributes of forces acting between an attached cable or an attached spring and a body.

 

– Effects of Force

Learn how to:

– measure how a force creates rotation as the moment

– calculate the force’s effect on the sense, magnitude, position, and direction of the moment.

– recognize the moment arm and calculate the moment of a force

– identify the roles of force direction, magnitude, line of action, and sense on the tendencies to cause rotational and translational motions.

 

– Effects of Multiple Forces

Learn how to:

– add moments due to forces when we know their moment arms.

– calculate the components of force vectors.

– calculate the moment of a force by adding the moments of its vertical and horizontal components.

– determine the sum of concurrent forces by adding their components.

– find the magnitude and sense of a force that balances the moment the other forces create.

– identify the method of calculating the moment of a force.

– perform vector addition to get translational effects of combined forces.

 

Equilibrium of concentrated two-dimensional forces

Learn how to:

– calculate the conditions under which general coplanar forces are in equilibrium.

– impose the conditions required to keep systems with collinear forces in equilibrium.

– recognize the conditions of equilibrium for concurrent forces.

– identify the equilibrium conditions under which bodies don’t have any translational or rotational motion.

– Statically Equivalent Loads

Learn how to:

– differentiate between statically equivalent loadings and fully equivalent loadings.

– replace multiple parallel forces having the same direction and sense with a single force.

– Applications of Static Equivalents of Distributed Forces

Learn how to:

– determine the location of the center of gravity by identifying the role of symmetry planes.

– replace a simple known distributed load by a single force with an appropriate line of action.

– calculate distributed load per length to replace symmetrically distributed load per volume/area.

– utilize symmetry to reduce three-dimensional systems to two-dimensional representations.

– Frames and machines

(Note: Frames are one of the most difficult topics in engineering statics or mechanics 1.)

Learn how to:

– draw FBDs of multiple subsystems

– recognize all interactions with external parts on FBDs of identified subsystems that are parts of a larger system, following Newton’s 3rd law.

– Trusses

– Method of Joints

Learn how to:

– calculate forces in bars connected to a single, solvable joint.

– Friction

Learn how to

– identify conditions (geometry/load/friction coefficient) for which motion either initiates or sustains.

– determine whether the body will be stationary or slip if you know the geometry, load, and friction coefficient.

– Moments of Inertia

– Second Moment of Area

Learn how to:

– define the polar moment of the area and identify circumstances when it matters.

– find second moments of area about an arbitrary axis using the parallel axis theorem.

– Mass Moment of Inertia

Learn how to:

– identify the mass radius of gyration as a substitute to the resistance to rotation.

– find mass moments of inertia about an arbitrary axis using the parallel axis theorem.

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