| Flexure: | (english) Bending deformation, i.e., deformation by increasing curvature. |
| Force: | (english) A directed interaction between two objects that tends to change the momentum of both.Since a force has both direction and magnitude, it can be expressed as a vector |
| Funicular: | (english) A funicular shape is one similar to that taken by a suspended chain or string subjected to a particular loading. |
| Inelastic: | (english) Not surprisingly, the opposite of elastic. A deformation of a structure or material under load is described as inelastic when the deformation remains after the load is removed. The term plastic is often used with the same meaning. |
| Inertial Force: | (english) A fictitious force used for convenience in visualizing the effects of forces on bodies in motion. For an accelerating body, the inertial force is considered as a body force whose resultant acts at the object's center of gravity in a direction opposite the acceleration. The magnitude of the force is the mass of the object times the magnitude of the acceleration. |
| Internal force: | (english) Forces which hold an object together when external forces or other loads are applied. Internal forces are sometimes called resisting forces since they resist the effects of external forces. |
| Mass: | (english) A property of an object measured by the degree that it resists acceleration. |
| Magnitude: | (english) A scalar value having physical units. |
| Moment: | (english) The resultant of a system of forces causing rotation without translation. A moment can be expressed as a couple. |
| Moment of inertia (I): | (english) Moment of inertia has two distinct but related meanings: 1) it is a property of a an object relating to the magnitude of the moment required to rotate the object and overcome its inertia. 2) A property of a two dimensional cross section shape with respect to an axis, usually an axis through the centroid of the shape. |