General Course Information  

Educational Goals: 
Students will acquire skills to analyze both particle and rigid-body equilibrium problems in two- and three-dimensions using both scalar and vector mechanics methods.  Applications in structural analysis will include truss and frame structures.  Analysis of distributed forces, centroids and moments of inertia will also be covered.

Course Operation:
Three sections of MCE262 are being taught this semester.  Each section will cover identical material and will have the same homework assignments and exams.  Common exams for all sections and will be made up and graded by the instructor group.  A day-by-day course schedule (TR-Schedule , MWF-Schedule) has been established for all sections that provides topics, text sections and homework assignments for each class meeting.  You are expected to attend all classes and turn in the assigned homework problems.  Time, class location, instructor information and exam location for each section are shown below:

Exams:
As specified in the course schedule, there will be three one-hour exams given on Friday afternoons 4-5 pm and a three-hour final exam (Thursday, December 13; 8:00 am - 11:00 am).  Exam locations for each section are given in the previous table.  All exams will be closed-book, but you will be allowed to bring one help sheet (8.5" x 11") containing any material you wish.  It will be very important for you to take all exams as they are scheduled, since make-up privileges will require a proper reason.  All make-up exams will be conducted at the end of the semester (likely on a reading days).  Be sure to contact the instructor immediately if you have to miss an exam.

Homework:
Homework problems are a very important ingredient of this course.  Problems from the text are assigned for each class according to the course schedule (TR-Schedule , MWF-Schedule), and your solutions are due for grading at the beginning of the following class.  Late homework will not be accepted.  Working on these problems is essential in keeping up with the course material and preparing for the exams.  Homework will be graded by a teaching assistant.  Your solutions must be neat, legible and complete.  The grader has been given instructions to give full credit only if the complete solution is clearly demonstrated.  See the Guidelines for Proper Homework Solutions for specific details.  Solutions to homework will be provided approximately one week after the due date and can be found at Homework Solutions.  In addition to analytical (by hand) solutions, a MATLAB computer project will also be assigned and details on this special exercise are given at MATLAB Project.   

Textbook: Vector Mechanics for Engineers - Statics by Beer, Johnston, et.al., Ninth Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2010 

Grading: Semester Exams - 50% ;  Final Exam - 35%;  Homework - 10% ; MATLAB Project - 5%

Help Sessions: A series of late afternoon help sessions will be offered to aid students in developing solutions to homework or other unassigned text problems.  Sessions are optional, informal and you can come and go as you wish.  No new material will be covered. Help sessions dates: (to be given)

Academic Integrity: According to URI's policy on academic integrity, "cheating is the claiming of credit for work not done independently." While group study is generally encouraged in this course, each student is expected to submit work that they have developed on their own. 

Disability Issues: Any student with a documented disability is welcomed to request accommodations and should contact their instructor as soon as possible. For more information, contact Disability Services for Students Office (874-2098)  www.uri.edu/disability_services