Course: Through Engineers' Eyes - Introducing the Vision: Engineering Mechanics by Experiment, Analysis and Design

Forces generated in an earthquake can destroy entire cities, so it might seem odd to say that they are just an abstract construct. More on that in the analysis activities. …

By the end of this week you will be able to share the wry smile of engineers as they downplay their capabilities with this self-deprecating definition of structural engineering: “Structural …

This video looks at springs – or any elastic element – and it looks at vibration too. Our aim is to use our most basic of equipment to show how …

At the end of each week, a quick video will highlight your progress towards Engineers’ Eyes and a concept wheel will show you how it all fits in. Week 1 …

Your first experiments are based on a rubber band spring. You’ll learn about creep, load-deflection curves and bounce. You will also see how we split Engineering Mechanics into ‘Statics’ and …

In this video you will specify the wall anchors that secure the washing line to the wall. The process is similar to part 1, but it requires a different FBD. …

Here you will design a hinge pin and wall anchors for a folding washing line. It might help if you download the design specification in the Downloads section below in …

As ever, there’s no better way to consolidate learning in Engineering Mechanics than quietly working through problems using pencil and paper (that’s why we call this a ‘Retro Tutorial’). This …

You are now well prepared for drawing and analysing complex Free-Body Diagrams. But for this you will need to know about conventional interactions. For instance, how do you represent a …

We started to look at pure twist in Week 3. Now that you have understood more about forces on rigid objects we can look at couples in more detail. Talking …

So, you’ve got the vocabulary and you know how to calculate the magnitude of a moment. Now you will use your new capabilities to analyse the data you obtained from …

This experiment appeared in Week 3. We have repeated it here because we will use our new analytical skills to get a deeper understanding of the concept of a couple …

Trust us. Although the significance of twist mightn’t be an obvious part of these experiments, when you come to analyse them twist is vital. If you have already made the …

Suppose forces on an object aren’t acting at a point, and you can’t use sliding vectors or other tricks to convert them. How can you apply equilibrium to find the …