mechanics

/məˈkænɪks/

/mɪˈkænɪks/

Mechanics is the science of things in motion. If you're a physicist and your specialty is mechanics, you most likely study the way physical bodies are affected by forces and how they affect their environment.

Mechanics is one branch of physics — and some mathematicians are also focused on mechanics. You can divide this field of study into classical mechanics and quantum mechanics, but in either case it involves the study of motion and the forces that cause or result from motion. You can also use the noun mechanics when you talk about the inner workings or details of something, like the mechanics of baseball or the mechanics of the banking industry.

Definitions of mechanics

1. noun

   the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in a frame of reference
   types:

   Newtonian mechanics, classical mechanics

   the branch of mechanics based on Newton's laws of motion

   fluid mechanics, hydraulics

   the study of the mechanics of fluids

   pneumatics

   the branch of mechanics that deals with the mechanical properties of gases

   statics

   the branch of mechanics concerned with forces in equilibrium

   dynamics, kinetics

   the branch of mechanics concerned with the forces that cause motions of bodies

   kinematics

   the branch of mechanics concerned with motion without reference to force or mass

   aerodynamics, aeromechanics

   the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of gases (especially air) and their effects on bodies in the flow

   hydrostatics

   study of the mechanical properties of fluids that are not in motion

   hydrodynamics, hydrokinetics

   study of fluids in motion

   ballistics

   the science of flight dynamics

   type of:

   natural philosophy, physics

   the science of matter and energy and their interactions
2. noun

   the technical aspects of doing something
   “the mechanics of prose style”

   synonyms: mechanism

   type of:

   carrying into action, carrying out, execution, performance

   the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it