TABLE OF CONTENTS The coverage of this subject is best described by a review of the chapter titled DYNAMICS in the "Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Reference Handbook". This is the only reference permitted in the examination room and it behooves the examinee to become well acquainted with this reference. It will often be referred to in this chapter as the "Handbook".
Perhaps the best way to start a review of Dynamic Systems is to review Newton's laws, since the principles expounded by Newton govern most non-nuclear mechanical actions. The three laws can be expressed as follows:
When a body is at rest or moving with a constant speed in a straight line, the resultant of all the forces acting on the body is zero. ( ?Forces = 0)
The rate of change of the momentum of a body is proportional to the force acting upon it and it is in the direction of the force. (F = ma)
Whenever one body exerts a force on another the second always exerts on the first a force which is equal in magnitude, but oppositely directed, and collinear. (Action and reaction are equal and opposite.)
(See Section KINEMATICS in the Handbook)
The basic relationships of motion should also be reviewed: Velocity, Acceleration, and Distance as discussed in the section titled KINEMATICS in the Handbook.
Velocity equals rate of change of distance with time, or v = ds/dt, which is a vector quantity, i.e. a velocity has both magnitude and direction. If...
