TAM 210/11: Statics

Website: The official class website is http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/tam210/

Description: In this course, we will cover fundamental concepts that are used in every engineering discipline. We will begin with forces, moments and move towards structural analyses of frames, devices, and machines.  By the end, you will be able to solve rigid body mechanics problems that will inform the design of everything from bridges to biomedical devices.  

Big Idea: Clear knowledge of external forces (boundary conditions) is required to determine what constraints are necessary for the safe (static equilibrium) development and design of any widget. Free body diagrams are an essential tool for understanding the forces and moments on a body.

Prerequisites: Required: PHYS 211; credit or concurrant registration in MATH 241. Preferred: CS 101 or experience programming in MATLAB.

Reference texts:

• Engineering Mechanics: STATICS, 14th edition by Hibbeler.  (Not required, but would be VERY useful)
  • Available at bookstore (electronic or hard copy)
  • Available on reserve at Grainger
• Also vailable on reserve at Grainger
  • Beer, Ferdinand P.;   Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Statics
  • Nelson, E.W. [et al.];   Engineering Mechanics: Statics
  • Nelson, E. W.;   Schaum’s Outlines Statics, 6th Edition [online electronic resource] (Great study guide resource with many worked examples)

Equity and diversity:

This is an equal opportunity classroom environment. We value the diversity represented by the participants in this course. Our diversity is a primary source of ideas and perspectives. As you work through the course, practice using this diversity to your advantage.

Grading: As noted under Polices (Gradebook), all assessment scores are stored on Compass2g. Note that we are only using this website for grade reporting.The total score for the course is computed with the following weights:

TAM 210/211

Final grades: The total score s corresponds to final grades as follows.

Lectures: Prompt and regular attendance at lectures is encouraged.

Discussion sections: Discussion sections are opportunities to practice the course material for the week using team-based worksheets.

• Discussion sections start in Week 1 of semester, with the schedule below.  Check Banner for your assigned discussion section.
• You will be working in groups throughout the semester.  Groups will be formed in week 2 of class using an online system called CATME.  Help for filling out the CATME survey is here.
• Grade is based on attendance and participation. See Policies (Discussion Sections).
• Discussion sections are always held in 252 Mechanical Engineering Building.

Online homeworks: To help you learn and practice the procedures for analyzing a problem, weekly online homeworks will be assigned in PrairieLearn. Homework assignments are especially designed for learning from mistakes as students are allowed unlimited opportunities to submit solutions. By paying careful attention to working through homework assignments, students should be able to master or at least have a strong understanding of the concept, principle or general solution process for addressing the given problem. 

• Each student should through the homework questions to help you learn the material. Copying answers from friends will NOT help you master the material! 
• The schedule of Prairie Learn homework (PL HW) due dates in on the course schedule.
• Homework must be completed by 11:59 pm Central Time of the due date (which will generally be Tuesday).
• Late submissions will be accepted within 2 days from the due date, with the maximum score achievable drop by 20$\%$ penalty. 
• To encourage you to work through the problems and to obtain the correct solution, you may revise and resubmit your solutions numerous times until the due date.
• Practice coding the solutions for homework questions in MATLAB as personal calculators are not allowed during the CBTF quizzes, and you do not want to waste your quiz time figuring out how to program MATLAB to solve the quiz question.
• You can rework completed items after the due date. This work will not be saved and will not affect your grades.
• Solutions will not be posted. By reworking the question and resubmitting the answer, you should arrive at the correct solution.

Quizzes: These quizzes are designed to assess your problem solving skills. Quizzes are only intended for ASSESSMENT, not learning. Quiz questions are formulated to be similar to the main concept, principle, or solution process being demonstrated in the homework questions. You will not be allowed to use notes, textbooks or any electronic devices (including calculators). If you practiced the course material in your PrairieLearn homework assignments, Written Assignments, and Discussion section worksheets, you should be able to easily address the quiz questions. You will need to be able to do calculations during quizzes. While working on PrairieLearn homework assignments, practice frequently using MATLAB, Mathematica, or other approved online computing resources (such as MATE Calculator software) so that you can use these tools efficiently during your CBTF quizzes. Solutions will not be posted. Quiz dates are listed in the schedule (generally Wednesday through Friday every two weeks). Your lowest Computer Based Test score will be dropped. This drop should be reserved for unexpected occurrences such as sickness or a family emergency.

• You will have a set number of attempts to submit the correct answer to the quiz question. Only the final submission is graded. There is no partial credit.
• During the entire time period of testing, students are strictly forbidden from discussing any aspect of the test/quiz whatsoever with other students. See  Policies (Computer-Based Testing Facility).
• Information about the CBTF as well as access to the scheduler are available at https://cbtf.engr.illinois.edu.

Instructions for students to schedule a quiz:

 

1. Firefox and Chrome are both supported web browsers. Other browsers may not be supported yet.

 

2. Click “Add a course” and then click “TAM 210/211: Statics”

 

3. Click on “Quiz #1” (click anywhere in the large red box)

 

4. Click on the green button for the time-slot when you want to take Quiz #1

 

5. After you have signed up for a quiz, you can cancel or change your reservation by clicking on the green reservation area. You can make changes to your reservation up to 1 hour before your scheduled quiz time.

 

6. DRES students requiring extra time should sign up for a time-slot that has enough time remaining after it. For example, if you need 1.5X or 2X time, then don’t sign up for the last time-slot of the day, but any earlier time-slot is ok. If you need 3X time then don’t sign up for either of the last two time-slots of the day, but any of the early time-slots are ok. When you arrive at the CBTF, inform the proctor that you are a DRES student and you will be accommodated in a separate, reduced-distraction room.

Exam:

A cumulative evening exam will be held for all students during week 12 after the completion of TAM 210 lecture materials. There will be no cumulative exam for the remaining TAM 211 students; they will take additional quizzes for the remaining topics. If a student needs a conflict exam, contact the instructor at the start of the semester and at least two weeks before the exam date with the legitimate reason for needing to schedule a conflict exam. Failure to contact the instructor at least two weeks before the exam date will likely result in the inability to accomodate requests for a conflict exam period.

Date: TBD

Time: TBD

Location: TBD

Office hours:

Richard Keane: Thursday, 9am-12pm, Grainger Library 429

Wayne Chang: Monday/Wednesday, 10-11am, 220H MEB or by appointment

Daily office hours are held in Grainger Library 429 according to the schedule below. Office hours start on Friday, August 31.

Online forum (Piazza): This class uses Piazza for ALL communications between the instructor, TAs, CAs, and students. Students should not communicate with instructors via email, unless there is an emergency.

Students are encouraged to post public messages on Piazza ("Post to Entire Class"). However, you can use the private feature by posting a message visible only to the Instructors. In this last case, you must type "Instructors", instead of sending a message to a specific TA or instructor.

TAs and CAs are scheduled to be checking Piazza on the following days:

The use of Piazza should not replace the office hours time, since some questions cannot be fully addressed via an online forum.