Introduction to Engineering Mechanics

Free Online Introduction to Statics Course

Hi All:

I just wanted you all to be aware that my introduction to statics course (titled "Introduction to Engineering Mechanics") is now available on Coursera all of the time (on-demand). You do not need to wait for a start date. It is self-paced and you can start today. Please see: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

Please consider sharing this information with friends/family/others. The course should be useful to university students. I also have a lot of high school students who take the course and are successful. This is a free and unique way for high schoolers to see what engineering is all about before they get to college.

Thanks!

Hi, could somebody please explain something to me from this video: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics/lecture/vdOph/module-6-systems-of-particles-equilibrium

There is an assumption that the pulleys are frictionless, yet in his component analysis of static equilibrium he shows tensile forces acting on the pulleys! Shouldn't that only be possible with friction? As without friction the forces would always be acting perpendicular to the pulley with no friction to translate the force onto the pulley?

My problem specifically begins to arise here: https://i.gyazo.com/1a805b83185c8d03ce4f371e3b03d2eb.png

How can the tensile weight forces of the string be acting on the pulley if there is no friction?

I have some free classes on www.coursera.org that you may find useful in your studies. Hopefully you will find this one helpful for Poisson's ratio and Mohr's Circle:

Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress and Strain and Axial Loading: https://www.coursera.org/learn/mechanics-1

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I have several other courses as well if you are interested:

Statics-Part 1: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

Statics-Part 2: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics-2

Dynamics-Part 1 (2D): https://www.coursera.org/learn/dynamics

Dynamics - Part 2 (3D): https://www.coursera.org/learn/motion-and-kinetics

Mechanics of Material II: Thin walled Pressure Vessels and Torsion: https://www.coursera.org/learn/mechanics2

Mechanics of Materials III: Beam Bending: https://www.coursera.org/learn/beam-bending

Mechanics of Material IV: Deflections, Buckling, Combined Loading, and Failure Theories: https://www.coursera.org/learn/materials-structures

NOTE: - Yes, these courses are free! You can pay $49 for a certificate if you want, but it is in no way obligatory.

I hope you find this material useful. If so, please tell your friends about this resource.

This Coursera Course helped me a lot with statics. I also did tons of practice problems from Hibbelers book.

I like the idea of just taking a couple classes and seeing if I enjoy it. Yeah I took most of the pre-req math like Diff Eq and Calc 3. I always enjoyed my math and physics classes and I particularly liked my circuits labs, but I never got to try anything with mechanical engineering. I wanted to switch to EE/CE after learning some circuits in my first year of BME, but ultimately switched to CS because I could get through all the major reqs in 2 years instead of 3.

My 3 main hobbies were video games, building mechanical keyboards, and building PCs for me and my friends, which kind of resulted in building this identity around being a programmer/gamer type person. This past year I stopped gaming altogether and so I am kind of in a discovery phase right now in terms of hobbies and I am trying to think about other stuff I enjoy to fill up my time.

I just found this course I can take:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

Any thoughts?

Others have talked about math and that's SUPER important. However, the standard weed-out courses (although we joke that they're all weed-out courses) are Engineering Mechanics ("solids" at my school) and Aerodynamics 1. Here's a free course on basic engineering mechanics and here is a free(ish - if you want the certificate it costs more) class for aerodynamics.

Please try my free courses on Coursera as a help with Dynamics.

Here are the links:

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Dynamics-Part 1 (2D): https://www.coursera.org/learn/dynamics

Dynamics - Part 2 (3D): https://www.coursera.org/learn/motion-and-kinetics

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If you need help with Statics or Mechanics of Materials, I also have these courses available:

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Statics-Part 1: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

Statics-Part 2: https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics-2

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Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress and Strain and Axial Loading: https://www.coursera.org/learn/mechanics-1

Mechanics of Material II: Thin walled Pressure Vessels and Torsion: https://www.coursera.org/learn/mechanics2

Mechanics of Materials III: Beam Bending: https://www.coursera.org/learn/beam-bending

Mechanics of Material IV: Deflections, Buckling, Combined Loading, and Failure Theories: https://www.coursera.org/learn/materials-structures

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NOTE: - Yes, these courses are free! You can pay $49 for a certificate if you want, but it is in no way obligatory.

I hope you find this material useful. If so, please tell your friends about this resource.

I'm studying for the FE as well. I don't think you need to go back to school, there's so many free resources and cheaper alternatives that you can use to self study. There are a bunch of free courses that you can take at your own pace to learn those core materials, such as:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

https://www.coursera.org/learn/mechanics-1

There's also this professor that uploads his entire lectures on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGv3KG_qIWQuIZEH-YGpBUw/playlists

I found that these posts were the most helpful in my test preparation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FE_Exam/comments/6yq8xh/fe_exam_civil_problems_solutions/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FE_Exam/comments/8p28ia/passed_civil_fe_today_my_experience_and_a_few_tips/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FE_Exam/comments/7tumdh/fe_civil_exam_how_i_passed_and_tips_long/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FE_Exam/comments/lbsbis/i_passed_the_civil_fe_here_is_what_you_should/

https://www.reddit.com/r/FE_Exam/comments/av7jni/fe_civil_exam_guide_personal_experience/

I would suggest that you take 3-4 practice exams while replicating the exam conditions (timed) before your next test. You will know if you'll be ready if you are scoring at least \~70% on your practice exams.

Hope this helps. Good luck!