Mechanical Definition and 1000 Threads

Homework Statement Hi I am new to Physics Forums and desperately need some help! This is my first class back since undergrad and my math skills have gotten a little rusty. I think that's where I am failing. Okay here goes: http://tinypic.com/r/2zqf04k/8 There is a 4 subsystem...

Hello, I'm a first year student going into mechanical engineering at the university of Waterloo in Canada. I initially chose this because I really wanted to work either with satellites or nuclear power plants and my teachers advised that a mechanical engineering degree would net me easy...

Hello! My friend and i are interested in doing a project.My area of interest in Fluid mechanics and my friend's is mechanical design can you guys help us out by providing some topics of research which encircles both these areas.

Hi all! Currently I'm a business major and I realized after a month long car rebuilding project that I should probably pursue another major. My entire life I've been fascinated with building contraptions and what not. I'm pretty behind in the game right now, and would like to do as much...

Hey, this is my first post on physicsforum but I've read a lot on this website and the people here seem really insightful so I thought I would give it a try. I have a delimma, I'm in my last year of high school and am deciding which major to go into at the university of Alberta up here in...

Hello PF, Can anyone recommend a set of governing equations for the design of a simple elastomeric balloon that will expand to a "hotdog" shape when inflated to a certain pressure? I have the stress-strain curve for the material, I know what pressure I need to inflate it to, I just can't...

hello everybody, I will Study Engineering and I'm thinking to take your opinions in the major that i will study I'm Confused between communication and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering. I care about the job-market which one is the most requested ? . which...

Hi everyone. I am a entering my junior year in the mechanical engineering degree plan. I am definitely looking into the possibility of grad school and am thinking of pursuing a masters in Aerospace. I was wondering what, if any classes would need to be supplemented prior to entering grad school...

I enjoy both mechanics and pure mathematics equally! I'd just like to hear everyone's thoughts on a 4yr Meng degree programme and a 4 yr MMath degree programme. One being a masters in mechanical engineering and another in well... Mathematics.

At the moment when a shot putter releases a 5.00 kg shot, the shot is 2.00 m above the ground and traveling at 15.0 m/s. It reaches a maximum height of 8.00 m above the ground and then falls to the ground. Assume that air resistance is negligible. a. What was the potential energy of the...

Folks, I am having difficulty correctly representing a mechanical system within a correct "control volume at an instant" in order to identify the various energy balance terms given below ##\displaystyle \dot E_{st}=\frac{d E_{st}}{dt}=\dot E_{in} - \dot E_{out}+ \dot E_g## (1) that...

Hi I'am a fresh graduate with a bachelors of engineering in mechanical engineering. During an interview for a job opportunity in crude oil pipeline installation, the interviewer warned me that if i got the job and entered this domain it will be really hard for me to enter another mechanical...

Homework Statement Car (A) C180K WITH A 1.8 litre supercharged spark ignition, Maximum power output 104kw, based upon standard fuel efficiency test a vehicle with this engine would consume 6.1 liters over 100k journey Car (B) C220 CDI with a 2.0 litre turbocharged diesel engine. Maximum...

In theoretical physics, why is the mathematical model favored over the mechanical model? Awhile back, I posted a thread asking about what each theory posits as real. For example, quantum field theory might limit the set of real things to fields, field quanta, the universe, and causality. It...

I haven't seen differential equations yet so please do not answer at that level. Suppose I'm on the beach, in the water, and some wave crashes against me. Can we talk about the momentum of that wave as being just the mass of the bump times the velocity of the wave? Can we speak of...

I have just joined the forum so please be nice as I'm not an engineer. lol Thank you for any and all help. I wanted to tap the knowledge here because my brain hurts... I'd like a better understand of how to get the answer not just the answer if possible. I am designing a mechanical...

I'm an incoming senior in high school and beginning college apps. I'm looking into majors and trying to figure out which is best for me. I have a couple of questions about physics vs mechanical engineering: 1) Which field is best for a woman, not only in college but as a career? 2) Is a...

Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution So part A is correct. I'm completely stumped for part B. I feel like not enough information is given. All I know is the temperature. I tried using ratios but it didn't give me the right answer. How am I supposed to...

Hey guys, I'm 16 this year and I've already decided to be an engineer. it's just i don't know what type i want to become. I am leaning towards mechanical engineering more because i heard you get to break things apart and assemble them. and it's the most diverse engineering branch. i...

Hi Im trying to increase the length of a movement of a rope so when one rope is pulled the other rope movement is increased x 2 (it is attached across). So far i have tried gears whice has somewhat worked but it increases the force as well. Is there any other way to achieve this amplification...

Hi i just finished my first year of general engineering and am on a 4 month break. If there are any senior engineering students or engineers out there, I just want to know if its useful to take a two month course in embedded systems and microcontrollers. Thanks

I wanted to ask the following question: If we change the medium of the wave (lighter or heavier) , how it will affect the particles velocity of the standing mechanical wave ? In my exam , there was a function's graph of one of the particles (of the standing wave) described with the...

A load of mass 250kg is required to be lifted by a means of a winding drum and cable. The mass will be initially at rest, accelerated uniformly upwards for 4 seconds and then decelerated uniformly for one second. such that a final height of 10.5 metres is gained. The winding drum has a mass...

I've tried looking this up online, but people only ever talk about the basic principles and formulas involved instead of the concepts behind it. My question is this: "What is happening at a quantum level when light is refracted or reflected?" How does the light interact with the atoms of medium...

Hi All Please excuse my naiveness in advance, I am a year 12 student and I have a few (may be stupid) questions for current mechanical engineers. How difficult is it? I am currently studying mathematical methods (second highest level of math we can possibly do, and a prerequisite for any...

Homework Statement a 6-kg bullet is fired into a 2-kg block initially at rest at the edge of a table of height 1 m. The bullet remains in the block, and after the impact the block lands 2 m from the bottom of the table. Determine the initial speed of the bullet. Homework Equations m1v1i...

Mechanical waves (sound, water waves) and EM waves both undergo diffraction. But the actual physical processes involved in the two are totally different. EM waves are produced by accelerated charges while mechanical waves are tiny displacements of molecules of the medium in which the wave is...

I am a second year civil engineering student. I decided long ago since I was in high school that I would be in engineering. However I only chose civil because I couldn't decide which engineering disipline I should choose. My college only has 4 course in engineering including computer eng. A...

So I have a doubt that's been bugging me for a very long time, and my teacher's response to it was vague. And I would be very grateful if someone would help me clear the misconceptions I have. Now, first of all, according to the first law of thermodynamics, \DeltaU = Q + W, where U is the...

I build things. I need mechanical parts from time to time, and I always have trouble finding the parts I need because I don't have a vocabulary from the mechanical engineering world - I hope to acquire the language by living in the forum for a while (and thinks in advance to anyone who can...

hello everyone. I'm taking a diploma in civil engineering and think to switch to mechanical engineering for my degree. What I'm worry about is I'm afraid that i can't catch up with the new syllabus because from i heard that mechanical engineering have more calculation than civil engineering. Is...

Homework Statement a) Write down the steady-state mechanical energy equation for flow from point (1) (located at the free surface of the creek) to point (2) located at the free surface of the tank. For the purposes of this problem you can assume the pressures at both points are atmospheric...

hey pf! the title pretty much sums up my question: what are the differences between actuarial work and engineering? if you have experience OUTSIDE of academics, please share your insight, as i'd really appreciate it. my brief background: i have a double major in mathematics and economics...

Hi everyone , this exercise was given in one of my midterms , but we didn't correct it and I'm wondering where I went wrong on it : Help will be extremely appreciated : Here is the statement : A block of mass m=2 kg is pushed by a spring with a spring constant of k=650 N/m which is...

Hello, I am a first year Civil Engineering student. I am not sure if I want to continue Civil or switch to Mechanical. I like them equally, both have their pros and cons. My current university offers a 5 year (150 credits) BEng program in Civil and Mechanical , another local university...

Problem: the masses of the javelin, discus, and shot are .8 kg, 2.0 kg, and 7.2 kg, respectively, and record throws in the track events using these objects are about 89 m, 69 m, and 21 m, respectively. Neglecting air resistance, (a) calculate the minimum initial kinetic energies that would...

Looking for mechanical engineers to answer some interview questions for my school project. Anyone willing to answer the ten simple questions would help me out tremendously. I've posted links to the document on google and dropbox. http://tinyurl.com/l38mcq6 or http://tinyurl.com/lsuo2z7

Mechanical energy is conserved whenever momentum is conserved. T/F? My guess is true: If momentum is conserved, no external forces are applied on the system. Hence mechanical energy can't change! (No change in PE, no change in KE). BUT: My answer booklet says FALSE! Why?

I'm going to take the Mechanical FE Exam, does anyone have any suggestion regarding which review or question book/ resources may be more helpful to study? ( beside the NCEES Reference Handbook) Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences.

A box containing a pebble is attached to an ideal horizontal spring and is oscillating on a friction-free air table. When the box has reached its maximum distance from the equilibrium point, the pebble is suddenly lifted out vertically without disturbing the box. Will the following...

Homework Statement A damped mass-spring system oscillates at 285 Hz. The time constant of the system is 8.8 s. At t = 0 the amplitude of oscillation is 1.3 cm and the energy of the oscillating system is 36 J. Part 1: What is the amplitude of oscillation at t = 8.7 s? Answer in units of...

Homework Statement A mass m is attached to one end of a massless spring with a force constant k and an unstretched length l0. The other end of the spring is free to turn about a nail driven into a frictionless, horizontal surface. The mass is made to revolve in a circle with an angular...

Hi, I need advise on a heatsink warpage(see attached), the heatsink is deflected in the middle about 2mm off, i need to mount pcb on it and might cause cracking over time, I was wondering if any experienced engineers have a good approach to straighten it? Thanks Seth

1. Find an expression for the total mechanical energy when the string is extended and find the maximum distance that the particle falls in terms of g Unsure 3. My attempt at solutionHi :-p Here is the question I am looking at http://imgur.com/a6T8zH7I take the datum as the fixed point so...

Homework Statement A block of mass 2.5 kg is placed against a compressed spring (k = 2900 N/m) at the bottom of an inclined plane (angle = 28 degrees). When the spring is released the block is projected up the incline and the spring expands by 14 cm to its normal length. a.Calculate the...

Hi guys, I have been a question to solve this week to do with deflections and slopes at the free end of a cantilever beam. I have calculated the deflection and slope for the point load and UDL, but I'm not sure whether to add them together or not?.. as they're both acting on the beam? A...

Hello, I`m a bit confused about PV work. Here is the situation I am facing. δw = P dV and dw = F dx δw is an inexact differential, because it's path dependent. I read some articles that equal δw with dw. saying that P dV = F dx For what path is that True? In other words...

Hi, I'm a mechanical engineer from Norway who has an work related query. Please see the attached picture describing the problem. I'm trying to figure out how heigh mass 1 travels if mass 2 is quick released when being suspended in a spring. I'm also trying to figure out a the maximum...

Hi, I'm currently studying Mechanical Eng & have a class next semester 'Eng Analysis', which involves a large section on vibration. I've been trying to work my way through S.S.Rao, Mech Vibrations, 2nd edition. There's one specific problem; Project 5.51/Chapter 5/page 292. The problem concerns...

Hi! So I was hoping to hear from some mechanical engineers about what sort of things I should be doing to become a good engineer. Are there any books you could recommend to read or maybe some projects to do that would help me to start thinking more like an engineer? I feel like all the people in...