What is Mechanical: Definition and 1000 Discussions
Mechanical engineering is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering branches.Mechanical engineering combines creativity, knowledge and analytical tools to complete the difficult task of shaping an idea into reality.
The mechanical engineering field requires an understanding of core areas including mechanics, dynamics, thermodynamics, materials science, structural analysis, and electricity. In addition to these core principles, mechanical engineers use tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and product lifecycle management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, heating and cooling systems, transport systems, aircraft, watercraft, robotics, medical devices, weapons, and others. It is the branch of engineering that involves the design, production, and operation of machinery.Mechanical engineering emerged as a field during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 18th century; however, its development can be traced back several thousand years around the world. In the 19th century, developments in physics led to the development of mechanical engineering science. The field has continually evolved to incorporate advancements; today mechanical engineers are pursuing developments in such areas as composites, mechatronics, and nanotechnology. It also overlaps with aerospace engineering, metallurgical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, and other engineering disciplines to varying amounts. Mechanical engineers may also work in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically with biomechanics, transport phenomena, biomechatronics, bionanotechnology, and modelling of biological systems.
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 :tongue: 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...
Hi, I'm currently a Sophomore with a major in Mechanical Engineering. However, I'm really conflicted in deciding what my major should be. I really love anything space related and was thinking about switching my major to Aerospace Engineering. I want to eventually work at places such as NASA or...
Homework Statement
Question in entirety: Vladimir Putin has contacted you to redesign the ski jump at the Olympic games. In the ski jump, contestants begin at rest at the starting gate on top of a hill inclined at an angle of 30 with respect to horizontal. They then accelerate down the hill...
Homework Statement
Hello everybody I was hoping some of you could give me some some examples of some closed feedback loop mechanical systems.
This is for my controls class where we have to design our own control system. I'm having trouble trying figure out some systems. I know one would...
Is momentum conserved when it is said that the mechanical energy is? My teacher says no, but I cannot think of any example. Looking at the formulas, it seems as though constant mechanical energy will always conserve momentum...
I'm sure these two have been compared before, but I'm wondering if anyone could grant me insight on what the Mechanical Engineering/Civil Engineering industry is like. I know Mechanical Engineering is much more broad, but how is the work on a day to day basis? What is the work on a day to day...
Hey Everyone! I was wandering what applications (if any) advanced math topics like topology, functional analysis, abstract algebra, etc. have in Mechanical Engineering. Thanks a lot!
I've been at this problem for a good hour now and I just can't figure it out :bugeye:
Please help me think through this! It is a very difficult problem in my opinion. Or maybe I'm just missing a fundamental point...Thanks in advance...
I am starting a engineering business with some friends while I am still in college. I graduated this past December and I am now working on my Masters. I was curious if anyone else has had a similar experience and what technological field you were in. We are designing an automated welding machine...
Tension -- how is mechanical tension even defined?
Hello, I'm currently a student in AP Physics having a little trouble with the concept of tension, especially that of a pulley system or an Atwood machine.
First, how is tension even defined? Is it the reaction force to the applied force on...
Hey guys,
I'm working on solving a problem of figuring out what an impact velocity is going to be roughly. The numbers seem very small to me though so I was wondering if you guys could check out my work. This isn't a homework problem, but rather a real problem. I"m trying to build a test...
Homework Statement
Consider the Hamiltonian for a rigid rotator, constrained to rotate in xy plane and with moment of inertia I and electric dipole moment\mu in the plane, as H_0=\frac{L_z^2}{2I}. Then suppose that a constant and weak external electric field,E, in the direction of x is applied...
I refer to the velocity of propagation of an EM wave in a medium.
I have been wondering about what plays the role, in this context, of inertia and elasticity. Here the formula has nothing in the numerator and the denominator is the product of the electric permittivity by the magnetic...
Hey PF!
I am a masters student in mechanical engineering, and I am doing really well. However, once I finish my thesis and graduate, what is the typical way to find a job. Are you head hunted or will I send out resumes? Should I talk with my advisers?
My uncle works with Boeing and has...
Object with positive mechanical energy in an attractive force field moves along a hyperbolic path and whose energy is zero, moves along parabolic path...isn't it?...But why?...Can't any object with ve energy move along the line joining centre of force?...If its radial component of kinetic...
During the short period of engagement of the friction clutch(say t=1sec),energy is obviously lost as heat.I've been asked to calculate this loss of heat by my teacher.
I've been given:
1.Input power(engine)= 50kW
2.Slip decreases linearly with time
3.Engagement process time,t=1sec
Now,I...
Hi and Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have just completed my first semester in Engineer and to be exact, in mechanical engineering. I am obsessed with this field but it will take me at least 4 years to graduate if everything goes as planned. I wanted to know if there are...
I am thinking about being a mechanical engineer but there are a few things I wanted to take into account before I picked this field.
First, the amount of available jobs is important.
Second, salary. I'm not a money crazed person but I plan on raising a family. I want to be able to pay...
Homework Statement
At the Chute-Montmorency, water falls from a height of 83m. The average flow rate of the river is 35000 liters per second. Estimate the maximum power that a hydroelectric plant located at the bottom of the falls would provide.
Homework Equations
P = W/T
W = F x d...
I am thinking about being a mechanical engineer but there are a few things I wanted to take into account before I picked this field.
First, the amount of available jobs is important.
Second, salary. I'm not a money crazed person but I plan on raising a family. I want to be able to pay...
I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and I found a research opportunity I really want (it focus on Fastening and Joining). I want to take classes relevant to this area, but my university offers different areas to specialize in as an Undergrad, so which one should I focus on in order to take...
Hello,
Has anyone here studied Mechanical Engineering but is doing work related to Biomedical Engineering or in the the Biotechnology or Biomedical Devices industry?
If so, I would like to ask a few questions.
How applicable was a Mechanical Engineering degree to your current work?
Do...