Hello everyone! Before hand, my apologies for any run-on sentence or bad spelling. English is not my first language… I’m a mechanical engineering student who is currently finishing his second year in college… I’m currently taking my last two classes before getting an associate degree in ME, but my struggle with those two subjects is just discouraging (I work full time, and go to school as part-timer)… I perfectly understand the explanations in class and the material itself… But when is time for me to apply the knowledge on the exams, my performance has been just depressing… I decided to study ME because I like the idea of having a useful degree, I like to work with my hands, and also because I found the field very interesting… Not necessarily because I’m good at math or physics, which is a very common quality in most engineering students… also, I went to a technical school during my high school days in DR, where I graduated from a industrial engineering program… At this point, changing my major is not an option, so it’s going to be a make it or break it type of thing… what I’m trying to get out of this post is to find out if there are other students going through the same struggle or who went through the struggle, but managed to get it done… if so, how are you doing it, or how did you do it… Thanks!
You didn’t give any clues as to where specifically you are struggling.
However, whenever I get stuck I draw sketches / pictures and then draw in what I know; forces, moments, deflections, etc. (i.e. free body diagrams). Then think about what you are trying to solve. Many times the answer will become much clearer that way.
Thanks for your suggestion HPuck35… I think my problem is visualizing what is being asked, and how to start solving the problems… Most of the time, the problems on the exams are slightly different than the ones we do on the homeworks, or the ones my professor uses when explaining the material… That basically makes it more difficult to anticipate what is going to be on the exams, and to know what topics I shouldn’t spend too much time on (studying in a efficient manner)…
Don’t fret. Dynamics, as well as Strength/Mechanics of Materials, are tough for many people. I would just recommend doing as many problems as possible until you start to know what kind of approach to use for a given type of problem. There are many study guides out there with solved problems and/or a solutions manual. Buy one or a couple of these and work through the topics you’re struggling with. Don’t look at the solutions right away–try to work each one out on your own, even if it takes a while, before checking with the answer.
Thank you Aura! I’ll see what I can find online tonight. :)>-
Gosh I don’t like this approach. This kind of approach just leads to pattern matching instead of understanding why each approach works for a given problem.
What was, or has been helpful for you brother?
I think what boneh3ad is getting at - it’s not really about solving the problems. It’s about understanding the fundamental principles. Being able to replicate work to go from fundamentals to the “equations you use” to solve the problems is key. Think of something simple like stress in a beam = Mc/I (or Mc/Iy if you prefer). Being able to use the equation is one thing, but understanding how it was developed is what really matters.
@boneh3ad This is actually a very good point, and something to be careful of. However, I also think that, sometimes, people understand the basic principle but not necessarily how to apply that principle. Working a variety of problems can lead to a better understanding of the principle and how to apply it, assuming the person is actively trying to do that and not just looking for patterns.
@lehobu I am not sure that I can offer any advice that is specific to strength of materials and dynamics, as I don’t think I had really “figured it out” yet at the point in time that I took those courses. Perhaps that is why I ended up specializing in fluid dynamics rather than something like materials. In general, though, @DecideSomeHow illustrated my position on the matter reasonably well. Ultimately, of course, the goal is to be able to solve problems, but in order to get there, you have to understand how to set them up and approach them based on the physics. In other words, you need to make sure you understand the basic principles of the subject and then you will be able to do things like reason out a solution method based on physical intuition rather than just memorizing a recipe that fit another similar problem without knowing why a certain formula applies to the situation.
@AuraObscura Certainly. Very few people can just sit down and read the text and immediately comprehend how to apply those principles, and doing practice problems is therefore almost always still important. I just don’t like the approach of doing as many problems as possible free of any meaningful focus on the basics as a standard way of learning. That may not have been your intent, but I wanted to make sure @lehobu did not go off in that direction and end up wasting a bunch of time regardless of your intent. Learn the underlying principles and then do only as many problems as is necessary to learn how those principles apply to reality. Work smart, not hard, I always say (or in many cases, both; just always include the smart part).