<p>I am a mechanical engineering freshman in college, and I am actually enjoying my chem class for engineers. Well, not exactly enjoying it...but I find it really interesting even though it's considered the hardest freshman class. Anyways, I was wondering about how much chemistry is involved with mechanical engineering? What kind of classes might I take that use chemistry, and could you give a few examples of its use in industry. I'm actually now considering a master's in biomedical eng. or chemical eng. because I know they use a lot of chemistry, but I'm only a freshman.
Thanks</p>
<p>I haven't used any chemistry in my actual mechanical engineering courses and most likely will not in my job when I graduate. I never had any interest in chemistry so I haven't bothered trying to find MechE fields that would require much knowledge of it. That is what chemists are for. The deepest I ever got with it is knowing the properties of various materials in order to make a good design. I never got into the chemistry of it.
If you go into ChemE you will have more of a chance of using chemistry. My brother (ChemE) interned for a company that made resin. The ChemEs had to know all of the chemical reactions in the reactors but it was the chemists jobs to figure out the chemical formulations of the resins. The chemists figured out how to make the resins and the ChemEs figured out how to mix everything together in order to mass produce it. I suppose it depends on how much chemistry you want to do on the job. I knew a guy who majored in both chemistry and some bioengineering field. He chose to become a chemist for his first job. He quit because 1. The work was very boring and 2. Engineeering intern salaries at his company were more than his entry-level salary.</p>
<p>Most mechanical engineers will never touch chemistry again however there is a sizable portion of mechanical engineers that specialize in combustion that do use it. The coursework here is usually considered graduate level. Typical application are reduction of unwanted exhaust products, increased power output of propulsive devices, and the analysis of thermal stresses on solids. I wouldn't make a decision on which grad school degree to pursue until after you take basic courses on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.</p>
<p>Ok well thanks for the answers. In my Chem class, I just liked seeing how everyday things worked...it's more interesting to me at the college level. And well, that's the main reason I'm majoring in ME: to learn how things work.</p>
<p>Haha and you're right, I should definitely get through those core classes before even considering a master's. I've heard how they separate the men the from the boys.</p>
<p>probably none. At my school, mechanical engineers are required to take only one semester of gen chem.</p>
<p>At Berkeley, mechanical engineers are required to take Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics.....I am not sure how much chemistry is weighed in these courses</p>
<p>At the undergraduate level there is virtually no chemistry involved in thermodynamics or fluids, but like someone else mentioned, at the graduate level these subjects use chemistry often</p>
<p>I agree with spe07. Thermodynamics does not require a high level understanding of Chemistry (well, as long as you know how to calculate mass from the given molecular weight), even though some schools do list the first term of Chemisty as a prerequisite for Thermodynamics. Not sure about Fluid Mechanics, but I think heat transfer involves more physics than Chemistry.</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineers typically use Chem in Materials and Thermodynamics courses. Not a lot of Chem, but enough that you should have at least one semester of Chemistry.</p>