ME 270 Fall 2012
Policies, Procedures, and Syllabus
Instructor: Morgan Murphy
Email:
Office Hours: Most T/Th from 11:45 to 12:45 in Room ME 2063 (old wing of bldg.)
Lecture Time: T/Th 9:00 to 10:15 (Room: ME 1130)
Classroom Environment
I wish to encourage a professional classroom environment based on basic courtesy and mutual respect. To help achieve this environment, please arrive to class on time and come prepared to fully participate in class discussions. Please do not sleep in class, read the Exponent, text, work on other assignments, or leave class early without permission (unless you are feeling ill). Such behaviors are disrespectful to the instructor and fellow classmates, and can disrupt the learning process. If you have a special need, just let me know and I’ll be happy to accommodate your requirements.
Homework
Homework will be collected at the beginning of each class period. You turn in the homework the lecture after it is assigned. Your three lowest homework assignments will be dropped. Homework solutions will be posted on the blog shortly after they are due. If you are unable to attend class, please attach a note to your homework and submit it in advance. If you are unable to submit the work in advance due to circumstances outside your control, you may submit your work to me for consideration with documentation of the circumstances (I must sign late homework to permit grading). Homework will count for 7.5% of your grade.
Quizzes
A number of quizzes will be given throughout the semester to allow students to apply the basic principles learned that day. The purpose of the quizzes is to encourage attendance and participation, and help students identify “gaps” in their understanding of the basic mechanics principles. No make-up quizzes will be given. Quizzes will count for 7.5% of your grade. For most in-class quizzes (NOT EXAMS!!), you are permitted to consult classmates (especially your team). If you have an excused absence, you will receive the grade of your group. Your three lowest quiz scores will be dropped.
Grades
The homework and quizzes will count 15% of your final grade. The first exam will be 10% of your final grade. The remaining two hour exams and the comprehensive final exam will computed using the following method. Let the average of the hour exams 2 and 3 be H (for the hour exams). Let the grade on the comprehensive final examination be F (for final exam). When we compare H and F, the higher number will be assigned 50% of your final grade and the lower number will be assigned 25%. This average will be converted to a letter grade following a straight-scale system. Your instructor reserves the right to assign the 50% to F (your final exam) if you miss any of the one-hour exams.
Grades will be assigned on an absolute scale as follows: A+ 97; 97 < A 93; 93 < A- 90, 90 < B+ 87; 87 < B 83; 83 < B- 80; 80 < C+ 77; 77 < C 73; 73 < C- 70; 70 < D+ 67; 67< D 63; 63 < D- 60, F < 60. No sweeping exam or final curves will be administered. However, individuals on the borderlines will be carefully reviewed to determine if they deserve a higher grade. In these cases, homework grades, quiz grades, class attendance and participation will be used to determine if a higher grade is merited. Students are strongly encouraged to attend all classes and complete all assignments to the best of their ability.
Tutorial Room
Assistance with homework problems will be available six days per week in the ME 270/274 Tutorial Room. The ME 270/274 Tutorial Room is located in ME 2138 (labeled Tutorial Room 2) in the new ME Wing (roughly straight above the classroom). The Tutorial Room will have a faculty member or TA available during the hours above to answer any questions you may have concerning homework problems, old exam problems, or other conceptual questions you may have as well as ample table space to sit down and work on homework with your peers. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this valuable resource.
Course Blog
In addition to the Tutorial Room, a course blog (which will be available 24/7) is a place where you can seek assistance from fellow students in all sections of ME 270 as well as assist other students with their questions. In essence, the Course Blog is a natural extension of our Tutorial Room, like a 24/7 Discussion Forum for the course. Most of the posts will be from fellow students. However, our faculty and TAs will also periodically monitor the discussion in case an erroneous discussion thread breaks out. There are two rules that have to be followed in the Course Blog. First, please don’t post any inappropriate comments (e.g., negative comments about instructors, TAs, peers, etc.). Second, you are not allowed to post your final numerical solution on the blog, although it is fine to guide others on the process you followed to arrive at your solution. Access to the blog can be found at the following website: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~krousgri/me270/ However, you must sign up within the first two weeks of class to have access to the Course Blog during the semester.
Academic Honesty
Faculty and students working together can promote a fair and positive work environment. All students are expected to conduct themselves in an ethical manner. Students are permitted to discuss homework assignments together, but should do their own work when preparing a problem solution (i.e., copying of a solution manual or another student’s work is explicitly prohibited). Exams are to be completed without unauthorized assistance. Any student caught cheating on an assignment or exam will receive disciplinary action, up to and including receiving a grade of “F” for the course. In addition, documentation of the infraction will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Students, which may result in additional disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the University. All of us are equally responsible for ensuring a fair and positive environment. If you become aware of any dishonest activities, please report the infractions to me (anonymously if you prefer) and I will investigate the concerns. If there is sufficient evidence of academic dishonesty, I will take disciplinary action.
FCI and ILS Surveys
As part of our ongoing educational research on how best to teach basic mechanics principles, we ask that all students complete two surveys as part of their initial assignment in ME 270. First, the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is an assessment of your conceptual understanding of basic mechanics principles at this stage of your development. Your score on the FCI (good or bad) will not negatively impact your course grade. We are simply seeking to understand where students’ strengths and weaknesses are coming into ME 270. Second, the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) provides insight to us regarding your preferences on how you like to learn new educational concepts. Both of these instruments will be invaluable to us in helping provide the best possible instructional experience for you and your peers in ME 270. At the end of the semester, we will seek you input as to how well our methodology met your needs in the class. The links for the FCI and ILS surveys will be provided in class.
TEXTS
ME 270 Lecture Book available through Boiler Copy Maker at the PMU.
BLOG
To access the course blog, please go to, http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~krousgri/me270/
You must sign up within the first two weeks of class to have access during the semester.
Fall 2012 Course Schedule for ME 270 – Basic Mechanics I
STATICS
1 / T / Aug. 21 / Introduction, Newton’s Laws, vector algebra / 3.1, 3.7, 4.3, 4.8, 5.1, 5.2,5.4, 5.5 (only turn in Section 5 problems)
2 / Th / Aug. 23 / Position, unit and force vectors, angles
Dot products and projections / 5.7, 5.9, 5.11,5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.18
3 / T / Aug. 28 / Particle equilibrium – 2D and 3D / 6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.6,6.9
4 / Th / Aug. 30 / Moment of forces about a point / 6.10, 6.11,7.1, 7.2, 7.6
5 / T / Sept. 4 / Force couples, equivalent systems / 7.3, 7.4, 7.5
6 / Th / Sept. 6 / Equilibrium of rigid bodies / 8.2, 8.3, 8.4
7 / T / Sept. 11 / Equilibrium of rigid bodies / 8.5, 8.6, 8.8
8 / Th / Sept. 13 / Equilibrium of rigid bodies / 8.11, 8.12, 8.15, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21
9 / T / Sept. 18 / Distributed loadings / 11.1, 11.2, 11.3
10 / Th / Sept. 20 / Centers of mass and centroids / 11.4, 11.5, 11.7, 11.11, 11.15, 11.16
11 / T / Sept. 25 / Fluid statics / 12.1, 12.2, 12.3
- / T / Sept. 25 / EXAM I
12 / Th / Sept. 27 / Fluid statics / 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.9
13 / T / Oct. 2 / Friction: general / 10.2, 10.6, 10.9, 10.12
14 / Th / Oct. 4 / Friction: tipping vs. slipping and wedges / 10.14, 10.16, 10.17, 10.10, 10.12, 10.13
T / Oct. 9 / University Holiday – no lecture
15 / Th / Oct. 11 / Trusses: method of joints and method of sections / 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8
16 / T / Oct. 16 / Trusses: problem solving / 9.9, 9.10, 9.12
17 / Th / Oct. 18 / Frames and machines / 9.13, 9.14, 9.16, 9.17, 9.18, 9.19
18 / T / Oct. 23 / Frames and machines / 9.20, 9.21, 9.23
INTRODUCTION TO STRESS ANALYSIS
19 / Th / Oct. 25 / Internal force/couple analysis / 13.1, 13.2, 13.3
-- / Th / Oct. 25 / EXAM II
20 / T / Oct. 30 / Shear force and bending moment diagrams / 13.4, 13.5, 13.6
21 / Th / Nov 1 / Shear force and bending moment diagrams / 13.7, 13.8, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.12
22 / T / Nov. 6 / Normal stress, axial strain and stresses due to axial loading / 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.8, 14.9
23 / Th / Nov. 8 / Shear stress and strain / 15.1, 15.2, 15.3
24 / T / Nov. 13 / Shear stresses due to torsional loading / 15.7, 15.8, 15.9
25 / Th / Nov. 15 / Stresses in beams, Flexural stress in beams / 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6
26 / T / Nov. 20 / No Lecture Exam Make-Up
Th / Nov. 22 / University Holiday – no lecture
27 / T / Nov. 27 / Second moments of area: integration
Second moments of area: composite sections / 16.7, 16.8, 16.9, 16.10, 16.11, 16.12
28 / Th / Nov. 29 / Shear stress in beams / 16.13, 16.14, 16.15
--- / Th / Nov. 29 / EXAM III
29 / T / Dec. 4 / Stress analysis of beams – problem solving / TBD
30 / Th / Dec. 6 / Course review