HINTS: FBD: recommended that you draw FBD of the system made up of A, B and link AB. Why?? Work-energy equation: write down the work-energy equation for the total system of A, B and link AB. Kinematics: The velocities of A and B are …

Read the rest of this entry

(Gantry crane image from Google Images). HINTS: Initially all parts of the crane (A, P and link AP) are all in pure translation to the right with a speed of v. A then comes to an abrupt halt. After A has stopped, P then swings as a …

Read the rest of this entry

HINTS. The four-step plan: FBD: Draw a free body diagram of the block. (The block moves in a horizontal plane; do not even think about putting a weight force in your FBD!) Choose your coordinate system and draw in the unit vectors. …

Read the rest of this entry

HINTS. The four-step plan: FBD: Before drawing in the friction force, determine the direction of impending slip for the block. Choose your coordinate system. Newton; Kinematics: Recall that ω and r are constant as long as the block does …

Read the rest of this entry

While doing my statistical mechanics homework today I arrived at a sum that looked like. Sums like this come up frequently when you’re working with random walks, or flipping coins, or counting states of quantum mechanical systems where …

Read the rest of this entry