ME 270 Fall 2012
Policies, Procedures, and Syllabus
Instructor:
Email:
Office Hours:
Lecture Time:
Morgan Murphy
r32mt5@purdue.edu
Most T/Th from 11:45 to 12:45 in Room ME 2063 (old wing of bldg.)
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
Class
Day
Date
Topic
STATICS
Introduction, Newton’s Laws, vector algebra
1
T
Aug. 21
2
Th
Aug. 23
3
4
5
6
7
8
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
Aug. 28
Aug. 30
Sept. 4
Sept. 6
Sept. 11
Sept. 13
Position, unit and force vectors, angles
Dot products and projections
Particle equilibrium – 2D and 3D
Moment of forces about a point
Force couples, equivalent systems
Equilibrium of rigid bodies
Equilibrium of rigid bodies
Equilibrium of rigid bodies
9
10
T
Th
Sept. 18
Sept. 20
Distributed loadings
Centers of mass and centroids
11
12
13
14
T
T
Th
T
Th
Sept. 25
Sept. 25
Sept. 27
Oct. 2
Oct. 4
Fluid statics
EXAM I
Fluid statics
Friction: general
Friction: tipping vs. slipping and wedges
15
T
Th
Oct. 9
Oct. 11
16
17
T
Th
Oct. 16
Oct. 18
University Holiday – no lecture
Trusses: method of joints and method of
sections
Trusses: problem solving
Frames and machines
18
T
Oct. 23
19
-20
21
Th
Th
T
Th
Oct. 25
Oct. 25
Oct. 30
Nov 1
22
T
Nov. 6
23
24
25
Th
T
Th
Nov. 8
Nov. 13
Nov. 15
26
27
T
Th
T
Nov. 20
Nov. 22
Nov. 27
28
--29
30
Th
Th
T
Th
Nov. 29
Nov. 29
Dec. 4
Dec. 6
Frames and machines
INTRODUCTION TO STRESS ANALYSIS
Internal force/couple analysis
EXAM II
Shear force and bending moment diagrams
Shear force and bending moment diagrams
Normal stress, axial strain and stresses due to
axial loading
Shear stress and strain
Shear stresses due to torsional loading
Stresses in beams, Flexural stress in beams
No Lecture Exam Make-Up
University Holiday – no lecture
Second moments of area: integration
Second moments of area: composite sections
Shear stress in beams
EXAM III
Stress analysis of beams – problem solving
Course review
Homework
3.1, 3.7, 4.3, 4.8, 5.1,
5.2,5.4, 5.5 (only turn in
Section 5 problems)
5.7, 5.9, 5.11,5.13, 5.14,
5.15, 5.18
6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.6,6.9
6.10, 6.11,7.1, 7.2, 7.6
7.3, 7.4, 7.5
8.2, 8.3, 8.4
8.5, 8.6, 8.8
8.11, 8.12, 8.15, 8.19,
8.20, 8.21
11.1, 11.2, 11.3
11.4, 11.5, 11.7, 11.11,
11.15, 11.16
12.1, 12.2, 12.3
12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.9
10.2, 10.6, 10.9, 10.12
10.14, 10.16, 10.17,
10.10, 10.12, 10.13
9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.6, 9.7,
9.8
9.9, 9.10, 9.12
9.13, 9.14, 9.16, 9.17,
9.18, 9.19
9.20, 9.21, 9.23
13.1, 13.2, 13.3
13.4, 13.5, 13.6
13.7, 13.8, 13.9, 13.10,
13.11, 13.12
14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4,
14.8, 14.9
15.1, 15.2, 15.3
15.7, 15.8, 15.9
16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.4,
16.5, 16.6
16.7, 16.8, 16.9, 16.10,
16.11, 16.12
16.13, 16.14, 16.15
TBD