ME 461: Mechanical Vibrations
Syllabus - Summer 2010
Instructor
Mr. Sam Leitkam, MS
Office: 4140 EB
Email: leitkams@msu.edu
Course Description
Modeling and analysis of oscillatory phenomena found in linear discrete and
continuous mechanical systems.
Text
WT Thomson and MD Dahleh. Theory of Vibration with Applications,
ed. 5. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.
SS Rao. Mechanical Vibrations, ed.4. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003
Class Time
MWF 1:50-2:40 in room 1300 EB.
Contact and Office Hours
MW 2:40-3:40 (right after class)
Th
10-11
or by appointment
Web Site
All course material will be posted on the class website. It will be updated
regularly, so make sure to check it regularly.
URL: http://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/me461/leitkams/
Homework
There will be approximately 5-6 homework sets assigned, which will be posted
on the course web site. Solutions will be posted after the due date.
Homework problems will be graded according to the following criteria:
3
2
1
0
Good attempt with no errors or minor errors
Good attempt with conceptual deficiency
Weak attempt and/or major conceptual deficiency
No effort
All homework sets are weighted equally. Homework will not be accepted after
the solutions have been posted.
Updated 5/20/10
Lab
You must pass the lab to pass the course. See “ME 461 Laboratory Introduction
& Procedures” for additional information.
Quizzes/Exams
There will be 4 quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final exam. All will be closedbook, closed-notes, unless specifically stated otherwise. No make-ups will be
given unless prior approval has been granted.
Grading Breakdown
The following is a basic partition of points.
Homework
Quizzes
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Laboratory
10%
20%
20%
25%
25%
The following scale will be used as a base reference for the grading in this course:
90 and up
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
<60
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
This will serve as the minimum grade you will receive given the points earned in
the course.
Updated 5/20/10