1. Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with, mechanics, or the
laws of motion; pertaining to the quantitative relations of force and
matter, as distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as,
mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical deposits.
2. Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools; made or
formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical precision; mechanical
products.
We have also divers mechanical arts.
Bacon.
3. Done as if by a machine; uninfluenced by will or emotion; proceeding
automatically, or by habit, without special intention or reflection;
as, mechanical singing; mechanical verses; mechanical service.
4. Made and operated by interaction of forces without a directing
intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.
5. Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate; empirical.
See the 2d Note under Geometric.
Mechanical effect, effective power; useful work exerted, as by a
machine, in a definite time. -- Mechanical engineering. See the Note
under Engineering. -- Mechanical maneuvers (Mil.), the application of
mechanical appliances to the mounting, dismounting, and moving of
artillery. Farrow. - - Mechanical philosophy, the principles of
mechanics applied to the investigation of physical phenomena. --
Mechanical powers, certain simple instruments, such as the lever and
its modifications (the wheel and axle and the pulley), the inclined
plane with its modifications (the screw and the wedge), which convert a
small force acting through a great space into a great force acting
through a small space, or vice versa, and are used separately or in
combination. -- Mechanical solution (Math.), a solution of a problem by
any art or contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means of the
ruler and compasses, or other instruments.
Me*chan"ic*al, n. A mechanic. [Obs.] Shak.
Me*chan"ic*al*ize (?), v. t. To cause to become mechanical.
Me*chan"ic*al*ly, adv. In a mechanical manner.
Me*chan"ic*al*ness, n. The state or quality of being mechanical.
Mech`a*ni"cian (?), n. [Cf. F. mécanicien. See Mechanic.] One skilled
in the theory or construction of machines; a machinist. Boyle.
Me*chan`i*co-chem"ic*al (?), a. Pertaining to, connected with, or
dependent upon, both mechanics and chemistry; -- said especially of
those sciences which treat of such phenomena as seem to depend on the
laws both of mechanics and chemistry, as electricity and magnetism.
Me*chan"ics (?), n. [Cf. F. mécanique.] That science, or branch of
applied mathematics, which treats of the action of forces on bodies.
That part of mechanics which considers the action of forces in
producing rest or equilibrium is called statics; that which relates to
such action in producing motion is called dynamics. The term mechanics
includes the action of forces on all bodies, whether solid, liquid, or
gaseous. It is sometimes, however, and formerly was often, used
distinctively of solid bodies only: The mechanics of liquid bodies is
called also hydrostatics, or hydrodynamics, according as the laws of
rest or of motion are considered. The mechanics of gaseous bodies is
called also pneumatics. The mechanics of fluids in motion, with special
reference to the methods of obtaining from them useful results,
constitutes hydraulics.
Animal mechanics (Physiol.), that portion of physiology which has for
its object the investigation of the laws of equilibrium and motion in
the animal body. The most important mechanical principle is that of the
lever, the bones forming the arms of the levers, the contractile
muscles the power, the joints the fulcra or points of support, while
the weight of the body or of the individual limbs constitutes the
weight or resistance. -- Applied mechanics, the principles of abstract
mechanics applied to human art; also, the practical application of the
laws of matter and motion to the construction of machines and
structures of all kinds.
Mech"an*ism (?), n. [Cf. F. mécanisme, L. mechanisma. See Mechanic.] 1.
The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the parts of a
machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or relation of the parts
of anything as adapted to produce an effect; as, the mechanism of a
watch; the mechanism of a sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.