Programme 1: Elementary Statics

Abstract

The study of Engineering Mechanics is largely concerned with examining forces and the effects that they produce. One important effect of force is to produce an acceleration. This aspect of force will be examined in programme 3, called ‘Elementary Kinetics’. Sir Isaac Newton showed that force is a phenomenon which causes, or tends to cause, acceleration of a body. These words, ‘tend to cause’, need explanation. Why is it that forces sometimes cause acceleration and sometimes not? To help answer this question, let’s look at a body subjected to two very simple, but different force situations.