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.
Hello, I am interested in finding out what are the primary fields of study for a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I also want to know how these fields of study fit together. If anyone can help, please contact me. Thank you.
I recently have made the switch to mechanical pencils from old fashioned ones. I have to say I'm really enjoying them and my handwriting has improved (I used to write very hard and dark).
I find that I really enjoy this particular kind...
I don't have the intuitive picture of thermodynamic 2nd law, in terms of statistical mechanics. That is, why should the number of microstates be maximized in equilibrium? Anyone gives an intuitive explanation? Thanks a lot.
Dear Gentlemen, I am a fresh graduate mechanical engineer and I live in Bahrain (middle east) and usually, the positions required in the companies are limited. I want to ask you which of the given positions is preferred for a fresh Mechanical Engineer, most applicable for what I studied, because...
Greetings,
I'm currently a month away from obtaining my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering. My school (Located in CA) carries a decent rank within the engineering community and, from my experience, has a fairly solid curriculum.
My issue is that I spent my first two years as an...
Hi,
I'm currently a mechanical engineering major, and I'm looking for your input about the future of mechanical and electrical engineering. I'll start off by saying that I've always been interested in dynamics, energy, and how moving things work (vehicles, etc). With electric car motors and...
Hello, my name is Thomas and I am very interested in becoming a mechanical engineer. I am an engine tranny tech at a automotive shop and I am very mechanically inclined. I was wondering if there are any mechanical or electrical engineers that could give me a detailed description of what they...
Hi everyone, I just got my Journeyman ticket as a heavy duty mechanic and finally amassed enough money to go back to school. I want to get a bachelors degree in either Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. The choice is haunting me I don't no what to do. I think I would be happy in either...
I have modeled a curved surface to which I need to applied forces defined in a Excel csv sheet. I have successfully created an external data box in the project schematic and tried to import the load into mechanical.
The load file I have resembles:
X Y Load
0.3...
Hi all.
I'm a mechanical engineer by training and a manufacturing engineer by trade. I currently find myself in the position of being asked to fill out a spreadsheet containing, amongst other things, machine tools' power consumption in kVA.
Occasionally an OEM will be helpful and provide...
URGENT: Finding Mechanical Energy, Velocity, and Height
Homework Statement
http://www.mrfizix.com/home/energy_files/image051.gifHomework Equations
E0=EF
PE=mgh
KE=(1/2)mv2
The Attempt at a Solution
I understand how to get the potential and kinetic energy values but I'm confused as to how to...
Homework Statement
FYI - I don't have any knowledge on the mechanical aspects of electric motors.
you're given a 400 hp electric motor that needs to run at varying rpms. The armature is 1200 lbs and is 800mm long with a diameter of 500 mm. the air gap that exists is 2.5 mm. At 800 rpm the air...
I have to take an aptitude test that I have taken before and there are a couple questions that are stumping me.
My first question I want to ask about deals with ropes / strings. It has an old-timey picture of a boy carrying books wrapped up in string and then attached to a stick and thrown...
Hi guys
I'm an electrical engineer and we're currently doing some control stuff which involves mechanical systems. I'm having particular trouble with a two body problem, I understand how to do the free body diagram and get the equations of motion, but I'm not sure how to get the transfer...
Homework Statement
Which of the following statements about friction is correct?
I. Kinetic friction always decreases the mechanical energy of a system.
II. The static friction force cannot change the mechanical energy of a system.
III. The force of friction always points in the direction...
Good evening,
I am unsure as to whether or not I am posting this question in the apropraite section of the this forum and apologize if I am not. With that said I will let you in on the question that I have for you tonight.
I am currently a fourth year undergraduate student pursuing a...
Homework Statement
Hey I've attached the question. My main problem is figuring out how to start.
Homework Equations
not exactly sure, PE=mgh?
efficiency= used power/total power *100 = used power/ 2950 * 100...
The Attempt at a Solution
i calculated the potential energy...
Hi,
I am thinking of making a mechanical timer to control a pedestal fan.
I want do a completely mechanical one, just for the feel of it.
For the energy storage method, I have two options, either a spiral spring or a counterweight. Which one should I use? Any good reading material on this...
Homework Statement
So I have this question given to me, basically there is a aero simulator which makes the ground shake so the data logger gets false readings, now to solve this problem a vibration absorption system has been added. Please see the attached System A.png file for the complete...
Hi all I am struggling with this classs example
A pump compressing hydrogen from a low pressure to a high pressure tank where the tanks pressure is constant and H2 is an ideal gas.
Hydrogen: (H2: MW = 2, Cv = 10 kJ/kgK)
Low pressure tank: (P = 4 bar, T = 30oC)
High pressure tank: (P = 100...
Hi there, I'm a biomedical engineering undergrad currently enrolled in an university whose engineering program is about as masochistic as any other. I'm doing pretty damn well in all my classes not named "biomechanics", which I attribute to my continued inability to learn much of anything at the...
Hey I want to study Engineering in college, but I'm not sure which field to go into.. Can you list some differences between the two, such as strengths needed, what each type does, etc...
Hi all. So as we know the wheel can be a form of mechanical advantage. If I were to spin a wheel from its circumference and a rope was attached to its [smaller] axle, I would be applying less force per distance than is outputted on the axle. (I may have worded that funny but its not important...
So an electrical motor converts electrical energy to mechanical one. But an electric motor can just produce a single motion in of itself. How come connecting a mechanical arm to it allows a diversity of movements like rotation, verticial and horizontal motions to both directions!?
Hi! I'm currently a second-semester sophomore in Mechanical Engineering. Right now I hate pretty much all of my classes. I'm currently in Intro to Fluids/Thermo (used to be Fluids I and Thermo I, now combined), Machines and Mechanisms, and Mechanical Engineering lab I (and gen ed garbage, but...
hi ..
Homework Statement
we have this gear system (we put an equal weight W).where will the action like A or like B direction?
http://data.imagup.com/11/1146214320.jpg
thanks for you suggestion.
hi everybody..
Homework Statement
we gave a force to this system (shwon in image) direction to the left;what will happen to this system (toothed axe) will move to the left or to the right or will be jammed?
http://data.imagup.com/10/1146213664.jpg
thanks for your help and.
Homework Statement
A string of mass 38.5g and length 5.60m is secured so that it is under tension of 220N. A wave with frequency 178 Hz travels on the string. Find the speed of the wave and the amplitude of the wave if it transmits power of 140 Watts.
The Given answers are: 179 m/s and 1.35 cm...
first time guys.
i have a disc with a bearing and a shaft through it. the disc is rotating in simple harmonic motion with a dynamic force of 14400N and speed of 2.43 rpm. i need to use electromagnets to stop this disc from rotating.
questions.
-where or can can i get electromagnets to stop...
Homework Statement
the position "r" of a moving particle moving in an xy plane is given by r=(2.00(t^3) -5t)î+ (6.00-7.00(t^4) )j with r in meters and t in seconds. In unit notation calculate:
A) R
B) Velocity
C) R when t is 25 seconds
What is the able between the positive direction of the...
Right now I am taking conceptual physics which is the most basic physics class
my college offers.
I am taking Calculus 1 right now and plan to take calculus 2 in the summer (2 month course).
So do you think calc 1 and 2 will be enough to be prepared for mech physics? Or do you think i...
I found something interesting in the law of conservation of mechanical energy related with rotational kinetic energy. The law states that:
ME = KE(translational) + KE(rotational) + PE
*ME = Mechanical Energy
*KE = Kinetic Energy
*PE = Potential Energy
It was stated that the above law...
Hey forum
Which one can be considered "better" and why?
I'm inclining towards Engineering Physics for my master of science in engineering, but I haven't really looked into mechanical engineering and was wondering what the forum has to say about it.
Homework Statement
How much mechanical energy is lost to friction if a 58.1-kg skier slides down a ski slope at constant speed of 12.1 m/s? The slope is 122.3 m long and makes an angle of 10.3° with respect to the horizontal.
Homework Equations
Emec=KE+PE
The Attempt at a Solution...
Can help me with any idea what topic that suitable for 3 person in Mechanical Final Year Project? I am more with "design" and "built" mechanical parts.
In this question and solution:
http://imgur.com/Z8DMo
Why is it that when we examine the bar BCD, the force exerted by the bar AD, TAD , is not considered in the free body diagram, but when you examine the bar DFG, it is considered in the free body diagram?
I'm doing a project outside of school and I need some help with the mechanical advantage of a four bar linkage. Ideally I want to have a torsion spring attached to the frontward most arm so that I can load the linkage and have it fling forwards. I want to use a servo to load the spring which i...
Need help :D
Hi everyone,
I am finishing my high-school and I have to decide what I'm going to study next.
I cannot decide between mechanical engineering, mechatronics(modul: robotics) and software engineering.
This is what I would like to do...
Hello,
Could anyone help me understand what I am doing here. This is NOT a homework question. I am a mechanical engineer in my final year at uni, and my project is to design and build an airtrack for a range of undergraduate mechanical experiments.
Im sure many of you have seen videos of...
Hello, I'm majoring in physics at the end of the year but I'm more interested in engineering now. The thing is that I could start taking Mechanical engineering classes now and obtaining the degree in two years from now (without obtaining the major in physics), or I could finish the physics major...
I have worked several different jobs, such as a mechanic for 7 years, logger for 4 years and a welder for 3 years. long stories for each, but i am mechanically inclined. Everywhere i have gone i have been able to look at different things and figure them out quickly, how to fix them and how they...
This page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation clearly explains time dilation by exampling with the light clock. But how can it be explained if suppose there was a simple mechanical clock instead of light clock. So, now for moving observer there is no light (in light clock) to follow...
Is there a way to wind up a spring or coil to store mechanical energy and then release that energy slowly over a longer period of time instead of allowing the spring to release rapidly all at once?
What is the difference? My school only offers the technology one. It says you can still take the exams to become a licensed engineer. Will this make an impact job wise? Good or bad?
I've recently considered going back to college for engineering. What are the biggest differences in aerospace and mechanical engineering other than aerospace being focused on air born objects? I think I've really taken an interest on the side of aerospace engineering.
If you are an aerospace...
I've recently considered going back to college for engineering. What are the biggest differences in aerospace and mechanical engineering other than aerospace being focused on air born objects? I think I've really taken an interest on the side of aerospace engineering.
If you are an aerospace...
Hi, I am currently an mechanical engineering student. When i finish my BS in engineering i want to a BS in physics. Will i have to take a lot of additional courses in the physics BS?
ok, I know that being further away and using a fulcrum/pivot point from an object being moved takes less energy. i.e using a 4 foot crow bar to pry open something. But i can't grasp the concept of why being further away makes it so much easier. thanks
Homework Statement
How did the Bohr Model improve the Quantum Mechanical Model on our knowledge of electrons?
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
So far I have that the quantum mechanical model of the atom restricts the energy of the electrons to certain values called...