ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concepts of force, mechanics, biomechanics, forms of motion and mechanical units of measurement. It helps students to do the following: describe the two ways that forces tend to affect bodies; describe the four subdisciplines of mechanics; describe the two fundamental forms of motion; and convert units of measurement between the International System (SI) and the British imperial system. Forces tend to affect bodies in two ways: forces tend to deform bodies, that is, change the shape of the bodies by stretching, squashing and twisting; and forces determine the movement of bodies, that is, the forces acting on a body determine whether it moves or remains at rest and determine its speed and direction of movement if it does move. The different types and effects of forces are reflected in four overlapping subdisciplines of mechanics: mechanics of materials, fluid mechanics, statics and dynamics. Two fundamental forms of motion are linear motion and angular motion.
