Building on the applied math and science courses, this course exposes students to studying and modeling the forces that affect bodies at rest and in motion. Students will find mechanics to be of vital importance to any field they choose to pursue. They will learn to determine and analyze forces applied to a body, the behavior when bodies collide and the movement of an object when different forces are applied to it. This course will introduce students to the core concepts of mechanics and will enable them to apply these concepts as they strive to design, test, and manufacture safe and reliable products. Students also learn to analyze problems in a systematic and logical manner and drawing free-body diagrams.
Student Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to
- Identify and use units, notations, and vectors common in mechanics; convert between unit systems
- Identify, explain, and perform calculations using the concepts of forces, couples, and moments
- Formulate free body diagrams to analyze forces on components of complex mechanical systems like bridges and elevators
- Perform calculations involving friction including calculations concerning belts and pulleys
- Compute stresses and strain in simple, composite, and curved beams; identify materials and loading configurations for such beams
- Apply the concept of equilibrium to systems, which can be modeled as particles in 2D, and to rigid bodies in 2D
- Calculate resultant forces and predict the effects of collision between objects that are in motion