Mechanics of particles and systems Statics Concept
Mechanical equilibrium
Summary
A mechanical system is in equilibrium when the forces on it balance, so that it has no tendency to change its state of motion. For a particle this means the net force is zero; for a rigid body both the net force and the net torque must vanish. For a conservative system described by generalized coordinates, the equilibrium configurations are the critical points of the potential energy. Equilibria are the starting point of statics and of the study of stability.
Where this leads
16 pages build on this one.
- Routhian mechanics
- Lagrange's equations of motion
- Inverse problem for Lagrangian mechanics
- Lagrange–Dirichlet stability theorem
- Hamilton's principal function
- Catenary
- Lami's theorem
- Modal analysis
- Lagrange multipliers for constraints
- Rayleigh's principle for natural frequencies
- Separation of variables in the Hamilton–Jacobi equation
- Small oscillations about equilibrium
- Normal mode
- Rayleigh dissipation function
- Statics
- Principle of virtual work
Further reading
About this page
| Tag | KHT3FBB7NZ |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://KHT3FBB7NZ |
| Kind | concept |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 70C20 |
| Same as | |
| Changed | 3 November 2026 |
Markdown · JSON · Edit on GitHub
What this page needs for W1
- an inventory row: the row of the inventory that the node accounts for (0 of 1)
- a source with a locator (0 of 1)
The writing levels say how complete the text of a page is. They do not measure its truth.