In this session we are going to deal with
particle equilibrium problems.
Many real world problems can be modeled as
particle equilibrium problems.
We all know what equilibrium is.
Equation for equilibrium is sum of all the
forces equal to 0
But what is a particle?
The concept of particle is very important
in engineering.
A particle is an object for which we can ignore
the shape and size.
We represent particle as dot.
Let me explain why we do that.
Think about a bridge.
Any bridge.
Numerous vehicles pass through the bridge
every day, cars, trucks, buses, bikes and
so on.
When we design a bridge we really don’t
care what type of a car or a bus is on the
bridge.
It does not matter whether you drive a Toyota
Corolla or a BMW.
What we are interested is the weight of the
vehicle.
In this case, we can ignore everything such
as their shape, brand, cost, who rides it,
etc. except for the weight.
So a particle is a concentrated mass.
On the other hand, if we are involved in the
design of the car itself, we can’t ignore
any of these parameters.
In this case we will consider the car in every
detail.
We will start our discussion in this class
with particle equilibrium problems, and then
move onto considering rigid bodies.
