TABLE OF CONTENTS Statics is the foundation course for mechanics of materials. This appendix briefly reviews statics from a perspective of this course. The presentation presupposes that you are familiar with the concepts in statics. If you took a course in statics some time ago, then you may need to review your statics textbook before the brevity of this appendix serves you adequately. Review exams at the end of this appendix can be used for self-assessment.
We can classify the forces and moments that we encounter in this book into three categories: external, internal, and reaction forces and moments.
These are forces and moments that are applied to the body and are often referred to as the load on the body. They are assumed known in an analysis, though sometimes we carry external forces and moments as variables so that we may answer questions such as: how much load can a structure support? or what lads are needed to produce a given deformation?
Surface forces and moments are external forces (moments), which act on the surface and are transmitted to the body by contact. Surface forces (moments) applied at a point are called concentrated forces (moment or couple). Surface forces (moments) applied along a line or over a surface are called distributed forces (moments).
Body forces are external forces that act at every point on the body. Body forces are not transmitted by contact. Gravitational forces and...
