TAM 212: Dynamics

General Info

Grades Formal Assessment Contact Info
Website Grading Lectures Office hours
Course description Final grades Final exams Online forum
Prerequisites   Quizzes  
Reference text   Discussions  
    Online homework  
    Exams  

 

LecturesMonday: 1-3pm (Live via Zoom) Wednesday 1-2pm lecture(Live via Zoom); 2-3pm discussion (Live via Zoom))  Friday: 1-2pm ((Live via Zoom))

Website: The official class website is http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/tam212/

DescriptionKinematics and dynamics of the three-dimensional motion of particles; kinematics and dynamics of the plane motion of rigid bodies; methods of work/energy and impulse/momentum; moving reference frames.

Prerequisites: TAM 210 or TAM 211.

Reference texts: Dynamics reference pages

Alternative texts:

  • R. C. Hibbeler, Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, 13th edition, Prentice Hall, 2012, ISBN 0132911272, (Amazon).
  • G. Gray, F. Costanzo, and M. Plesha, Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, 1st edition, McGraw-Hill, 2009, ISBN 0077275543 (Amazon).
  • D. J. McGill and W. W. King, Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, 4th edition, Tichenor Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0742134938, (Amazon).

Grading: The total score for the course is computed with the following weights:

Online quizzes 40% Discussion worksheets 10%
Final Exam 32% Online homework 15%
Lecture Attendence 3%    

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

97.0% ≤ s < 100.0% A+ 93.0% ≤ s < 97.0% A 90.0% ≤ s < 93.0% A-
87.0% ≤ s < 90.0% B+ 83.0% ≤ s < 87.0% B 80.0% ≤ s < 83.0% B-
77.0% ≤ s < 80.0% C+ 73.0% ≤ s < 77.0% C 70.0% ≤ s < 73.0% C-
67.0% ≤ s < 70.0% D+ 63.0% ≤ s < 67.0% D 60.0% ≤ s < 63.0% D-
s < 60.0% F        

This means that a score of 79.998% is a C+, while 80.000% is a B-.

QuizzesThese quizzes are designed to assess your problem solving skills on course material. Solutions will not be posted. All quizzes will be held through PrairieLearn from 2-3 pm every Friday.

If you have an excused absence for the quiz, then you will take the assessment at a later date, or make other arrangements at the discretion of the instructor.

Discussion sections: Discussion sections will be on Wednesday starting Week 1 of semester. Discussion sessions will be on the second lecture of every Wendnesday. Use the zoom link to join discussion session. Prompt and regular attendance at your discussion section is required.

Most discussion sessions will consist of a group worksheet exercise, which is a high-energy and efficient 50-minute learning experience. Students will be placed in permanent groups of three to four people during the first week of classes via breakout rooms on zoom. If you are more than 5 minutes late to a discussion session then you will not receive credit for the section. All members of the group should be working together as a team. The TAs will be evaluating team work, problem-solution skills and interpretation of the problem. Worksheets will be posted as an assessment item on Compass at the beginning of the discussion session.  The grades are distributed as 50% for your attendance and 50% for completion of the worksheet. You will complete solutions to the Worksheet of each week and upload these solutions (as a pdf file) to Compass. You will be graded on reasonable effort. Submission of your Worksheet solution must occur before Friday 11:59pm of each week, no late upload will be accepted.

There are two main goals for the discussion worksheets:

  1. Gain experience in team-work. This is a critical skill in all areas of engineering, from large-scale industrial projects to academic research. Working productively in teams is a skill that must be learned just like math or physics, and regular practice is essential. Often you will have to work with people who you do not especially like, or who you find it difficult to work with. It is important to lean how to manage these situations so that the important work is still accomplished.
  2. Apply engineering concepts to real-world problems. Each worksheet focuses on a real-world problem that you will have to use your engineering skills to solve. This will include using the material from class, but also knowledge from previous engineering, math, and science classes. You will also have to think like an engineer, and understand when to make approximations, how to judge the appropriateness of different models, and which mathematics and physics is most useful for a given engineering problem.

We also hope that these discussion worksheets will help you to meet other engineering students and we encourage you to get together outside of lectures and discussions to work collaboratively on homeworks and exam study. You are encouraged to bring a tablet or laptop to discussion section to access the online reference pages.

Online homeworks: Weekly online homeworks will be assigned via PrairieLearn. Each assignment is due at 11:59pm on the assigned due date. Due dates are available inside PrairieLearn. These assignments place an emphasis on mastery. The idea is to keep doing questions until you master the underlying concept or method. Once you do, you should be able to answer these questions very quickly.

The way this works in PrairieLearn is that each question has a value, a point total, and a point maximum. If you answer a question correctly, two things happen:

  • The point total increases by the value, until you reach the point maximum.
  • The value increases (2x, 3x, 4x, etc.).

If you answer a question incorrectly, one thing happens:

  • The value goes back to what it was originally (1x).

This system rewards repeated correct answers, which tend to demonstrate mastery. There is no penalty (other than resetting the value) for answering a question incorrectly, so don't be afraid to submit an answer. Similarly, don't be afraid to keep doing a question after you reach the point maximum - your point total with never go down!

If you click on the "?" just to the right of the line about available credit, you'll see all the dates associated with this homework. In particular, it says:

  • you can receive 100% until Main End Date
  • you can receive 80% until Extended End Date(two days later)
  • you can receive 0%, but can keep doing problems as practice for the rest of the semester.

Note that your score will never go down. For example, if you achieve 90% by the Main End Date, you won't be able to increase your score after that time, but you won't be penalized for not reaching 100% - your score will remain 90% forever. On the other hand, if you achieve only 70% by the Main End Date you will be able to increase your score after that time (to a maximum of 80%) until the Extended End Date.

Final Exam: Online in the PrairieLearn.

Office hours: Wednesday: 3pm - 5pm (Boqiang Qian) (Live via Zoom)

Online forum (Piazza): This class uses Piazza for ALL communications between the instructor, TAs, and students. Students should not communicate with instructors via email. This is so we can ensure a faster response and keep everyone informed about what's going on.

Students are encouraged to post public messages on Piazza ("Post to Entire Class"). If you like, you can post anonymously, but we encourage everyone to use their name because it makes a friendlier and more welcoming environment. We will never judge anyone for asking anything on Piazza, and you will see the instructor and TAs making mistakes and saying stupid things as well!

You can also use the private feature on Piazza by posting a message visible only to the Instructors. In this last case, you should type "Instructors", instead of sending a message to a specific TA or instructor. Again, this helps to ensure that you get a prompt response.