Introduction to Strength of Materials

Introduction:-

In earlier studies we have undergone a basic course in mechanics of Rigid Bodies, more commonly referred to as Engineering Mechanics or Applied Mechanics. Mechanics as such is subdivided into three branches; Mechanics of Rigid bodies, Mechanics of Deformable Bodies and Mechanics of fluids.

Mechanics of Rigid Bodies assumed bodies to be perfectly rigid i.e. there is no deformation of bodies under the action of loads to which they are subjected statics and Dynamics are the two branches of Mechanics Of rigid Bodies involving stationary and moving bodies respectively under the action of loads.

Stress:-

i. The force of resistances per unit are offered by a body against deformation is known as Stress. When a body is subjected to external loading the body undergoes some deformation. At the same time internal force of resistance is due to the cohesion of molecules inside the body. Thus stress is induced in the body upon external action of load

ii. If the body is able to resist the external load, it is said to be stable, in equilibrium and therefore for this condition the internal force of resistance should be equal to the external load.

By Definition Stress=force of resistance/cross sectional area

Or Stress=P/A

Strain:-

As the body produce force of resistance to counter the external loading it undergoes some deformation. The extent of deformation depend on the material property like molecular cohesion. The ratio of change in dimension is known as strain.

Since Strain is ratio, it has no units. We shall denote strain by letter e. If L is the original dimension and is change in dimension and then

Strain =Change in dimension/Original dimension

Types of Stress:-

1) Direct Stress and Direct Strain:-

When the force of resistance acts normal or perpendicular to the area on which it acts, the stress so produced is termed as Direct or Normal Stress and corresponding strain is referred to as Direct Strain.

We shall denote direct stress by letter ‘f’. Direct stress could be of tensile nature of compressive nature.

2) Tensile stress:-

When the force of resistance acts away from the cross sectional area, the direct stress is of tensile nature. Tensile stresses tend to cause an increase in the original dimension.

3) Compressive Stress:-

When the force of resistance acts towards the cross sectional area, the direct stress is of compressive in nature. Compressive stresses tend to cause a decrease in the original dimension.

Why Should You Become a Certified Scrum Master?

If you are a project manager in any company, you want to be sure that you do as much as possible in order to get ahead of problems. But, there are a variety of things that you can do in order to ensure that you’re able to stay on top and get the best results for the work that you’re doing. In the process, your bosses may have recommended you take the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) CSM-001 exam in order to ensure that you have the best knowledge base possible to help your team be their best.

Scrum is a framework that a project team can work within so that they can achieve their goals. The term “scrum” comes from the sport of rugby. The framework can give you a leg up in regards to helping your project team. The scrum framework is one that is going to take time to master, but can go a long way in regards to making things happen. Through the process of studying for the CSM-001 exam, and gaining the certificate, you can embrace everything behind Scrum and ensure that you can use it in an effective manner.

But, why would you want to do this sort of thing? The fact is, there are a lot of great benefits to taking the time to do it. Not only can it help your team to be more effective, but it will also allow you to have a solid, consistent process that allows your team to get into a rhythm. The Scrum process goes a long way in relation to planning out and managing things. And, if you’re certified as a Scrum Master, you will have some more job opportunities as well. It can allow you to expand your career and help you to find that dream job that you’ve been looking toward for all of these years.

When you start to look at becoming a Certified Scrum Master, you likely have a lot of questions including how best to study for the CSM-001 exam. A lot of professionals supplement courses and study guides with CSM-001 exam Q&As from prior tests to ensure they cover all the material that will be on the exam. Oftentimes test questions are phrased in a confusing way. By going through actual questions and answers that appeared on recent CSM-001 exams you’ll familiarize yourself with the way questions are framed so there won’t be any confusion on exam day. Plus, you’ll be able to time yourself.

10 Reading To Children Tips You Need To Learn Now

We are all aware that today, most children are so much more interested in watching television for hours, playing video games throughout the night, and gossiping on the Internet than they are in reading.

According to recent figures from the U.S. Department of Education, children are spending an average of four to six hours daily watching TV or movies; and that’s before the Coronavirus pandemic.

It has been proven, time and time again, that children who read achieve.

They do better in school and in life.

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass

Children who read tend to accomplish higher test and exam scores more often than their peers who read less often. However, getting children to simply open a book can sometimes be very tricky for parents and teachers alike.

Realize this, it is never too soon to get your child on the path to reading.

The U.S. Department of Education recommend that parents begin to read to their baby when they are six months old. The reason being, that hearing words over and over, time and time again, help them become familiar with those words.

Reading to your baby is one of the best ways to help them learn.

You can start by simply spending some time talking to your infant and toddler thereby helping them to develop the vocabulary they will need to enter school and begin to read.

And, in due course, as you point to and name the objects around them, they will start to understand and associate the words with the objects. In a short while, they will eventually begin to add those words into her vocabulary.

If, after a while, after a few years, you come to the conclusion that your child is showing little to no interest in reading, relax, there is hope.

“There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.” – Jacqueline Kennedy

Sometimes parents have to be creative and get a little sneaky. You can still turn your reluctant child into a reader.

The following 10 tips can help parents get their most stubborn children to read year-round:

1. Make the words come alive

When you read to children, pick a book that has large print. Point at each word as you read it. This way your child will recognize and understand that the word being spoken is the word they see.

And to add to that, did you know that a child’s love for reading can grow when the words come to life? After reading, go out and share that experience as a family.

This can create a deeper family bond, and has the added power of putting the words into visual context.

What do I mean?

If you are reading to your child a book on bunny rabbits, go to a pet shop. Let your child see the rabbits, recite a few words from the book as you point to the rabbits.

This creates a powerful combination; the child can relate to what they’re hearing and seeing; making reading as fun as possible.

2. Read to open long-term dialogue

One of the best things you can do to ensure that your child will grow up reading well and loving to read is to read to them every day.

As we said earlier, reading together will create a special and strong bond between the two of you.

And this has an extremely important added benefit that will help them open the doors for a dialogue that will continue throughout the more trying years of adolescence.

The U. S. Department of Education suggests that, when parents read to children, it is important that they take the time to discuss new words.

Take the time to explain what each new word means and do your best to include as much sensory methods as you can; sight, hearing, touching.

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

3. Listen to your child

When parents spend time talking and reading to children, they should also take the time to listen to their children.

This will help their children get ready to read faster.

When you read and talk to your child use sounds, gestures, songs, and even words that rhyme to help your child learn about language and its many uses. Inspire your child to do the same and be attentive to them.

This is vital.

There’s nothing worse than a child feeling they are being ignored.

When you go out with your child to the supermarket, practice pointing out the printed words there; you can point to a fruit, and ask your child what that fruit is and ask them to spell it and talk about it for a minute.

4. Never leave home without it

Take some books with you wherever you go. You never know when your child gets excited to read, and when they do, cherish the moment, and take full advantage of it.

Of course, this can also be beneficial at times when you don’t wish to be disturbed, so by handing over a book to your child it gives them fun activities to do to entertain themselves with, and it keeps them occupied while you’re driving, chatting with friends, or running errands.

5. Keep the books within easy reach

A well as creating a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write, and draw, make it a point to keep the books and all other reading materials within easy reach of your child.

Perhaps you can provide your child with their own bookshelf or small bookcase. This will not only make them feel special, but it will also communicate to them that reading is special.

An added bonus could be you reaching out for a book on their shelf for you to read in front of the child. This way the child can see that you are also reading, and this will make them realize that reading is important.

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.” – Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

6. Read a favorite book over and over again

Get into the habit of recognizing your child’s favorite books, and read them over and over again. Repetition has the power of making the words sink in further and further into the child’s mind.

Also, you can think of ways to make it more fun each time you read that favorite book.

Be creative.

Time and time again, read the stories that have rhyming words and lines that repeat, and have your child join in the fun.

7. Provide encouragement

Parents play a crucial role by reading to children, and this greatly affects the child’s education. Children whose parents encourage them to read are more likely to read far more books than those parents leave reading up to them.

Encourage your child to read as often as possible, without pressurizing them, as this may put them off reading. Reading to children requires tactical persuasion, and getting children to read by themselves requires creative encouragement.

“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” – Edmund Burke

8. The early bedtime trick

Here’s a great coaxing approach that many successful parents have used in the past to read to children. Set your child’s bedtime to be 30 minutes before lights out.

Allow them time to perform all the before bedtime duties; such as brushing their teeth, getting into their pajamas, saying their good-nights to others, using the bathroom, and so on.

Once done, let them happily hop into bed, and then you open their favorite book, or book of their choice, and you read to them.

This is to be done before their official lights out bedtime.

After that, simply smile and say, “It’s time for bed, now. Would you like lights out, or would you like to stay up and read for a bit longer?”

More often than not, unless the child is particularly tired, they’ll choose to read awhile longer. This way they think it’s their idea (powerful, huh!).

Allow the child to choose whichever book they like to read until the time comes where you kiss them and bid them a goodnight and turn the lights out.

9. Summer reading enticement

Where possible, sign up for a local summer reading club at your local library, or arrange to read with your neighbors’ children out in the back garden. Have them take turns reading to children that are present (some love to show off their reading skills).

On a rainy summer’s day, with the advanced technology of these days, you can always have your child read to their grandmother and grandfather via the Internet.

If your local library is closed, or your child doesn’t want to be cooped indoors, you can always take them out to a close park, lay a blanket on the grass and read to each other.

Practice the art of parents reading to children, then children reading to parents.

Think of ways you and your child, and other children, can have fun with it.

“I believe we should spend less time worrying about the quantity of books children read and more time introducing them to quality books that will turn them on to the joy of reading and turn them into lifelong readers.” – James Patterson

10. Read the entire book before you see the movie

If your child is keen to see a particular movie, get the book and have the child read it first before you take them to the movie.

Make it a ‘rule’ that you do not take them to the movie until they’ve read the entire book.

This will encourage them to read, and the added bonus is that they may understand the movie more because they read the book with you, and you, more than likely, added life to it; explaining things the child didn’t understand.

There you have your 10 reading to children tips that you need to learn and implement now, or at least, as soon as possible.

Reading is very important for children. It prepares them for adulthood.

Reading is a prerequisite to success and perhaps everything in life.

If you think about it, in all areas of life, there is something to read: Road signs, food labels, newspapers, prescription labels, letters/emails from banks or work. We are all surrounded with things to read.

We cannot avoid reading… Period.

“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.” – Kate DiCamillo

Do your best, make it one of your life’s missions, to turn your children into avid readers.

The more methods that you can combine into your child’s reading experience, the more likely you are to help your child grow into a strong reader.

Always, constantly think of ways to infuse into your child that reading is fun. And, for you as a parent, remember that you can never be too old, too wacky, or too wild to pick up a book and read it with your child.

Reading to children is a must in every household.

“Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn’t be human beings at all.”

Appointments – Manage Your Time Better At Home to Be Effective

What would happen to you if your home life was more organized than it is right now? Can work-life balance be achieved? What are the tools at our disposal? Could scheduling appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize?

What is the challenge we face? I sometimes find that time spent at home can be the busiest time, especially in the times we live in. Imagine someone working from home, home-schooling children, and sometimes even doing a side hustle. Imagine also the full-time home-based entrepreneur. How do they manage to do all they need to do in a day?. We are living in a time when many entrepreneurs and even company employees have adopted work- at – home culture. This comes with its challenges as the lines become blurred between home and work. These blurred lines and constraints on the limited resource called time result in over-worked, under-rested, burnt-out individuals. Whilst good time management has been encouraged and indeed, embraced in the workplace, I believe more needs to be done in changing the mindset for the elusive work-life balance to be achieved.

What are the tools at our disposal? To manage time effectively at home, there are many interventions one can employ including setting goals for the day, prioritizing wisely, setting a time limit for every task, organizing oneself, and instituting the discipline of appointments. Yes, an appointment at home! We can spend time pontificating on the pros and cons of each intervention, however, I believe we need to focus on appointments and see how this can powerfully change the course of one’s day regardless of whether it’s a workday or weekend. Life is busy as it is without any intrusions. The question is how do you handle the one who announces that they are at the gate. These can be friends, neighbors, a salesman of some product you do not even need. I am not promoting regimentation here but rather a culture of filling your day with what’s important. Everything that we succeed at is because we carefully plan and execute it. I am a firm believer that you cannot manage time if you do not manage yourself thus I implore you to incorporate planning and appointments into your repertoire. I am not talking about something I do not do. I have to achieve many things in a day therefore I set appointments with my work, others, and myself.

Could scheduling appointments and keeping them on the home front help us save time and prioritize? Whereas we have established that it is a normal business practice to set appointments and keep them, we need to abandon the liberal open-door policy of allowing all and sundry to have access to us as and when they please on the home front. Please understand where I am coming from. We each have greatness within us but for us to achieve it we need to culture great habits. Employing the use of appointments at home and seeing only those people you had agreed to see removes non-essential encounters especially during the most productive hours. I know this will vary with culture, geographical region, or even level of affluence, whether you live in a low density or high-density residential area, but doesn’t negate the need to be organized and effective. Controlling access determines how organized you are and how well you will work and rest when the time for scheduled rest comes.

What do we need to do differently? We need to be disciplined and diligent, learn to say no, now is not a good time, let’s make an appointment for next week. What are the benefits of this approach? You are not always fire-fighting to meet deadlines, You are not always tired because you have not taken time out to rest. You have set aside enough time to spend with your loved ones or a loved one. If you are a busy person, I am sure you appreciate what I am saying. Whether it’s time to work uninterrupted, family time, or “me-time”, it takes some kind of order to enjoy it.

I am not saying that those that come unannounced are bad people. No, not at all, they probably are people you enjoy spending time with. Nevertheless, there must be prior communication so that you can attend to your visitor(s) when it is convenient for both you and them. It can be quite disrupting and a whole day can just pass by without achieving anything that you had planned to do.

As we grow older we begin to appreciate that rest and recovery need to be scheduled. The fact that I am relaxing doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to do. One therefore cannot assume that just because you are at home you are available. Maybe you have scheduled that time to rest. That is important. You need to make an appointment with yourself, spouses need to also set aside time for each other. Parents need to schedule a time to spend with their children. When you have some sort of order in your life you determine who sees you and who you see. It also means that your relationships will be healthy and that makes you a happier person.

In conclusion, I believe that the work-life balance can be achieved. There are many tools at our disposal just like it is in the workplace.I believe we could do more and be happier if we are disciplined enough to make only the commitments we can keep.I am certain that setting appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize.

Fitzgerald Mujuru, a fusion of Business Coach, Personal Effectiveness Coach, Business Consultant, Marketing Strategist, Sales Zealot, Speaker, brand builder, with over twenty years in marketing and sales for globally known brands. He has vast commercial experience at management level in various sectors. His strengths include marketing, brand building, sales, business development, business strategy, management, and equipping leaders and teams with strategies for personal and team effectiveness. He has handled various consultancy assignments for companies in professional services, media, communications, training and development, non-profit organizations. He has released 4 books and published more than 200 articles online.

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