At the end of this course the student demonstrates ability to
1. view and analyse motion phenomena through the lens of Newtonian mechanics
- describe linear/rotational motion (1D/2D) in terms of time dependent trajectories and derivatives (velocity, acceleration)
- identify and describe the forces that act on a subsystem (body) in a given situation and present this in a free body force diagram
- recognize archetypal patterns of motion and explain (from a mechanics point of view) how these come about
- exploit the system nature of Newton’s laws by selecting appropriate systems and subsystems for analysis
2. predict the behaviour of mechanical systems by constructing and evaluating mathematical models
- translate a system/motion/force analysis into an equation of motion using Newton’s three laws of motion
- compute motion trajectories based on an equation of motion
- expose (absence of) relations between parameters in a problem through mathematical reasoning and parameter studies
- judge if a model is physically sound by performing basic sanity checks (e.g. units & limiting cases) and by comparing its predictions to experience/experiment
3. conduct basic experiments for model validation purposes
- judge what data needs to be collected to validate (an aspect of) a model
- use technology (video cameras, tracking/data analysis software) to collect and process data
- calibrate time and distance measurements
- collect data in a systematic way
4. present, interpret and discuss theoretical predictions and experimental findings
- present, interpret and discuss modelling results in parameter form
- present, interpret and discuss data in graphs
- connect and compare theoretical predictions and experimental findings
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Lectures/tutorials on calculus applied to motion (1D/2D); Newton’s laws for linear/rotational motion; Newton’s laws for systems; Conserved quantities (mainly momentum/center of mass motion, but a bit on energy as well); Force laws and free-body force diagrams; Oscillatory, circular and rotational (rigid body) motion. Torque & moment of inertia;
Lab/tutorials on numerical integration of Newton’s laws; Motion tracking using camera and tracking software; Basic ways to present and analyse data using Excel or Matlab.
External students who are interested in this elective: please contact electives-uct@utwente.nl
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Description |
Test Type |
Weighting |
1 |
Oscillatory motion lab (theory/experiment) |
Lab assignment in small groups
(individual report) |
25% |
2 |
Center of mass lab (theory/experiment) |
Lab assignment in small groups (individual report) |
25% |
3 |
Open-ended modelling challenge |
Group assignment & presentation |
50% |
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