ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the analysis of the motion of a particle as a result of the external forces acting on it. The importance of free-body diagrams in obtaining the equations of motion for a given mechanical system should not be underestimated. As in statics, experience has shown that the vast majority of errors made in dynamics can be traced to either the lack of a free-body diagram or an incorrect free-body diagram. In many problems, once the component equations of motion have been written for the given situation, the solution to the equations must be obtained. In some simplified situations direct integration may be used; in other cases numerical or graphical means are required. The difficulties encountered depend on the types forces present, that is, whether the force is a constant, such as weight, or whether the force is a variable, such as the "drag" of a fluid on a solid body.
