THE THEORY OF SLIDING VECTORS AS A METHODOLOGY FOR MODELLING SYSTEMS OF FORCES IN TECHNICAL SUBJECTS IN ENGINEERING BACHELOR'S DEGREE

Physics, as a subject included in the early years of Technical Engineering Bachelor Degrees, provides the basic knowledge necessary for the study, in higher level years, of the technical subjects required for calculations in engineering projects, which make up an important part of engineering attributions for recent graduates. This is particularly important with regard to Mechanics, which is traditionally the initial part of the Physics course and, within this the theory of sliding vectors is taken as an instrumental subject of considerable importance. The behaviour of the forces acting on solids or on systems of solids, which are considered as sliding vectors ( Principle of transmissibility of forces), enables the application of this theory to the study of loading systems in subjects such as Resistance of materials, Construction, Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics, Analysis and Design of Structures, Dynamics of Structures, etc. In this paper, first of all a summary of the theory of sliding vectors is presented. After that, there is a set of problems with regard to loading models in different types of civil engineering works proposed to the students of the Bachelor Degrees in Engineering taught at the School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. Finally, by means of an example, one of those problems will be solved.