The Forge · engineering, computing & technology
Mechanical & Aerospace
Forces, materials, and motion — the engineering of things that must not break.
Why the bridge stands and the bracket bends — forces in balance and materials under load.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~36 hours
Unit I — Forces in Balance
Vectors and free-body diagrams · Equilibrium of particles and rigid bodies · Moments and couples
Unit II — Structures
Trusses by the method of joints · Frames and machines · Centroids and distributed loads
Unit III — Stress and Strain
Axial stress and strain · Hooke's law and material properties · Shear and torsion
Unit IV — Bending and Failure
Beams: shear and moment diagrams · Bending stress · The factor of safety
The laws of energy and what they permit — engines, refrigerators, and the price of every conversion.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~36 hours
Unit I — The Language of Energy
Systems, states, and properties · The zeroth and first laws · Work and heat as transfers
Unit II — The Second Law
Entropy · Reversibility · Why perpetual motion fails
Unit III — Cycles
The Carnot limit · Otto and Diesel cycles · The Rankine cycle and power plants · Refrigeration
Pressure, flow, and drag — the behavior of everything that pours, gusts, or streams.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~32 hours
Unit I — Fluids at Rest
Pressure and depth · Buoyancy · Manometers and gauges
Unit II — Fluids in Motion
Continuity · Bernoulli's equation and its fine print · Viscosity and the no-slip condition
Unit III — Real Flows
Laminar vs. turbulent flow · Pipe losses · Drag and lift · Dimensional analysis and model testing
Lift, drag, thrust, and weight — why wings work, told without hand-waving.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — The Four Forces
Weight and lift · Thrust and drag · Steady flight as balance
Unit II — The Wing
Airfoils and angle of attack · How lift is actually generated · Stall
Unit III — Control and Stability
The three axes · Control surfaces · Why airplanes are shaped the way they are
The rocket equation, staging, and the counterintuitive art of moving in orbit.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~28 hours
Unit I — Getting Off the Ground
Newton's third law applied · The rocket equation · Staging and mass fractions
Unit II — The Orbit
Falling and missing the ground · Kepler's laws for engineers · Orbital elements
Unit III — Maneuvering
Hohmann transfers · Speeding up to slow down · Rendezvous and docking · Gravity assists