MechanismsandThingsThatMove

My Gila

Class7

Filed in: Main.Class7 · Modified on : Wed, 25 Mar 09

Attendance

Hardware Hack-day

Midterm project workshop

  • Presentations: 5-7 minutes with 2-4 minutes for questions
    • Start with an intro of the idea and why you chose to make it (this addresses the function)
    • Explain how it works (or should work...)
    • Demonstration

Artist Spotlight: Kal Spelletich
"Save the world. Everything is subject to change and probably will."

Statics

  • The study of rigid bodies that are in equilibrium
  • Equilibrium = “a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces” (dictionary.com)
  • Why study things that don’t move in a class about how things move?
    • A static problem is a snapshot of a dynamic one
    • Most of the time we can isolate a statics problem that represents the worst case scenario in a dynamic system

Force as a vector

What’s a vector?

  • Scalar: speed, mass, length, time
  • Vector: velocity, weight

When describing a force, think of

  • Point of application (simplify)
  • Magnitude
  • Direction

Gravity is a force F=ma (Newton's 2nd law)
Difference between mass and weight
Quick Trigonometry lesson

  • SOHCAHTOA

Free Body Diagrams (FBD)

  • A FBD is a simplified graphical depiction of all the forces and moments happening on a body
    • Applied, normal, friction, weight, gravity, spring, drag, etc.
  • Examples:
    • Book on a table (Newton’s 3rd law - Every action has an equal and opposite reaction)
    • Hanging from two ropes
    • Weight on a high crane
  • 3 steps
    1. Isolate the body from all supports
    2. Identify all external forces acting on the body
    3. Sketch the body, showing all forces

Solving a Statics problem:

  • Draw a FBD
  • Choose a reference frame (x horizontal, y vertical)
  • Choose a convenient point to calculate moments around
  • Sum forces and moments in all directions until unknowns are found

Torque and FBD

  • We already learned that Torque (moment)=Force*distance
  • Distance (d) stands for the PERPENDICULAR distance between the force line of action and the point of rotation, sometimes called the lever arm or moment arm
  • For something to be in Static Equilibrium, the sum of forces in any direction and the sum of moments about any point must = 0

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