Mechanics can be defined
as that branch of physical sciences concerned with the state of rest or motion
of bodies that are subjected to the action of forces. In general, this subject
is subdivided into three branches.
- Rigid Body Mechanics
- Deformable Body Mechanics
- Fluid Mechanics
In this blog, we start
from rigid-body mechanics since it forms a suitable basis for the design and
analysis of many structural, mechanical and electrical devices encountered
in engineering. Also, rigid-body mechanics provides part of the necessary
background for the study of mechanics of deformable bodies and the mechanics of
fluid.
Rigid-body mechanics
itself is divided into two areas, statics and dynamics. Statics deals with the
equilibrium of bodies, that is, those that are either at rest or move with
constant velocity; where dynamics is concerned with the accelerated motion of
bodies. Although statics can be considered as a special case of dynamics in
which acceleration is zero, statics deserves a separate treatment
since many objects are designed with the intention that they remain in
equilibrium.
In writing of this post,
we took definitions from "Engineering Mechanics 11th Edition by R.C
Hibbeler".
