C&ENVENG 1010 - Engineering Mechanics - Statics

This course familiarises students with the principles of static equilibrium by applying Newton's laws of motion to solve engineering problems. Topics will be taken from: introduction to forces; 2D and 3D equilibrium of particles and rigid bodies; centre of gravity and centroids; distributed loading and hydrostatics; friction; analysis of structures including trusses, frames and machines; and drawing shear and bending moment diagrams. The course finishes with an introduction to load paths and approximate analysis techniques for statically indeterminate structures. Emphasis is placed on drawing free-body diagrams and self-checking strategies.

Part of the course will be devoted to framing and solving unstructured problems by discussing a variety of puzzles. Such educational puzzles are used to illustrate basic concepts of critical thinking, mathematics, and problem-solving.