Mechanics

Mechanics, the name generally given to the science of force, is more properly confined to the study of forces on machinery (mcchane, a machine). It involves primarily kinematics, the science of motion, and in many cases the consideration of the acting forces is much less important. The simple machines investigated in elementary dynamics, otherwise termed the mechanical powers, are the lever, the wheel and axle, the three different systems of pulleys, the inclined plane, the screw, and the wedge. The two first are in principle identical, as also the three last. The hydraulic press constitutes another such simple machine, but it depends for its action on the characteristic property of a liquid (q.v.). [Dynamics.]