Sections A,B
Spring Semester 2001
University of Missouri-Rolla

Instructor

Dr. Ralph E. Flori, Jr.
Office phone:	341-4588
Home phone:	341-2617
E-mail:	reflori@umr.edu
URL:	http://www.umr.edu/~reflori
Office:	G-4A Basic Engineering Building
Office Hours:	3:30-4:30 PM (or any time you find me in the office)

Lectures

BE 150 A:  10:30-11:20 Tuesday & Thursday
BE 150 B:  11:30-12:20 Tuesday & Thursday
202 Basic Engineering Building

Text

"Engineering Mechanics - Dynamics," 8^th Edition, by Hibbeler, Prentice Hall, 1997.

Description

BE 150 -- Engineering Mechanics-Statics [Lect 2.0] Application of the principles of mechanics to engineering problems of motion and acceleration. Topics include plane motion; force, mass and acceleration; work and energy; and impulse and momentum. Prerequisites: Bas En 50 and Math 22.

Attendance Policy

Attendance is expected at all lectures, although it will not be checked. Proper learning of the course material can only be achieved through regular course attendance and working hard at home.  You should complete all of the assigned homework plus practice problems in order to master the skills introduced in this course.

Homework, Quizzes, and Class Participation

Selected problems, corresponding to the assigned readings, will be assigned at the beginning of all (non-exam) lecture periods. These problems are to be completed by the next lecture period. The instructor may collect one or all of these problems for grading. Late homework will NOT be accepted, except under extraordinary circumstances.

Answers to selected homework problems have been provided in the back of the text, and detailed homework solutions prepared by the instructor are available on the web for your reference. Full solutions are provided to eliminate the advantage some students have simply because they have access to good files.

Short quizzes may be given at the instructor's discretion during the semester.

As a means of encouraging interactive learning in the course, the instructor may base part of your grade on your participation in class discussions and assignments.

Exams

Four in-class exams and a comprehensive final exam will be given during the semester. All exams will be cumulative and will primarily consist of problem solving. Practice exams are available on the web.  Make-up exams will generally NOT be given. However, exceptions will be made in the case of genuine emergencies (the instructor will define "genuine" and "emergency" at his discretion). Vacations or lack of preparation are not valid reasons.

Grades

Your grade for this course will be determined on the following basis:

The standard university grading policy will be followed:

However, the instructor reserves the right to curve grades as he deems necessary.

General Information

(adopted from Dr. Robert W. Kitchin, head of the Physics Department at Southwest Baptist University, 1992)

Dynamics is presently the second course of a three course sequence in Engineering Mechanics: Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials. All are based on the study of mechanics -- the study of the effects of forces on solids, liquids, and gases at rest or in motion.

Engineers use mechanics to determine stresses and deformations in machine parts, such as gear teeth, and in structural elements, such as support columns. The principles of mechanics are used by engineers to design products that range in size from tiny computer parts to huge dams; by astronomers to predict the motion of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies; and by physicists to study the motion of atomic particles.

Mechanics is generally subdivided in three branches: rigid body or classical mechanics, deformable body mechanics, and fluid mechanics. In this particular course, only rigid body mechanics will be studied, since this subject forms a suitable basis for the design and analysis of many engineering problems, plus providing the necessary background for study in the other areas.

Rigid body mechanics is generally divided into two areas: statics and dynamics. Statics deals with bodies in equilibrium; whereas, dynamics is concerned with the accelerated motion of bodies. Although statics can be considered a special case of dynamics (zero acceleration), statics deserves special treatment in engineering education, since most structures are designed with the intention that they remain in equilibrium.

Since dynamics is a problem-solving, applied-mathematics course, there will be a signification amount of mathematical development in this course. A working knowledge of simple differential and integral calculus and trigonometry will be required. Vector analysis techniques will be reviewed and further developed as needed throughout the course.