MECH&AE 102
Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Requisites: course 101, Mathematics 33A, Physics 1A. Fundamental concepts of Newtonian mechanics. Kinematics and kinetics of particles and rigid bodies in two and three dimensions. Impulse-momentum and work-energy relationships. Applications. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - This was a great class! Definitely the kind of class that you get out of it what you put into it. Lectures are very engaging-- lots of participation opportunities (participation is extra credit btw) so if you're like me and you enjoy active learning rather than dry lectures, this is a good class. The professor really likes space and robots, which is great, because so do I! Many, if not most, lecture & hw problems have something to do with space, which is AMAZING. Also, there are no longer any MATLAB assignments! Just week-long HW's and quizzes-- HW tests your calculation skills, while quizzes test your ability to understand and explain concepts clearly, and derive equations. The class is definitely graded leniently, but it's also genuinely informative. (Btw, if you take this class, heads up that the professor uses a bar over a character to indicate a vector, rather than an arrow over that vector.) Overall, would definitely recommend this professor, especially if you're a space/robot nerd who likes engaging lectures.
Spring 2022 - This was a great class! Definitely the kind of class that you get out of it what you put into it. Lectures are very engaging-- lots of participation opportunities (participation is extra credit btw) so if you're like me and you enjoy active learning rather than dry lectures, this is a good class. The professor really likes space and robots, which is great, because so do I! Many, if not most, lecture & hw problems have something to do with space, which is AMAZING. Also, there are no longer any MATLAB assignments! Just week-long HW's and quizzes-- HW tests your calculation skills, while quizzes test your ability to understand and explain concepts clearly, and derive equations. The class is definitely graded leniently, but it's also genuinely informative. (Btw, if you take this class, heads up that the professor uses a bar over a character to indicate a vector, rather than an arrow over that vector.) Overall, would definitely recommend this professor, especially if you're a space/robot nerd who likes engaging lectures.
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Most Helpful Review
He is nice and has a sense of humor, so that's a positive. It's really not worth it to attend his lectures. He goes on and on and it takes an hour for him to explain a single problem. 102 is a really difficult course because of the subject matter and it doesn't help when the professor can't explain the problems effectively. If you can, take 102 with another professor.
He is nice and has a sense of humor, so that's a positive. It's really not worth it to attend his lectures. He goes on and on and it takes an hour for him to explain a single problem. 102 is a really difficult course because of the subject matter and it doesn't help when the professor can't explain the problems effectively. If you can, take 102 with another professor.
Most Helpful Review
FOR 101/102 Klug is a good prof who takes the time during lecture to explain himself clearly and do good ex probs. He assigns way too much hw, but if you make the effort to go to office hrs, he'll work out entire probs with you. He really cares a lot about your understanding and isn't set out to fail anyone. He sometimes does extra credit and his exams are typically a lot like the hw/quizzes. You must submit work for EVERY hw prob to pass the class, though he post soluts you can copy later if you don't get it.
FOR 101/102 Klug is a good prof who takes the time during lecture to explain himself clearly and do good ex probs. He assigns way too much hw, but if you make the effort to go to office hrs, he'll work out entire probs with you. He really cares a lot about your understanding and isn't set out to fail anyone. He sometimes does extra credit and his exams are typically a lot like the hw/quizzes. You must submit work for EVERY hw prob to pass the class, though he post soluts you can copy later if you don't get it.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - This was the least deserved A of my life. Reuter is a sweet middle aged European man. He's friendly, typically is in a good mood, and is usually on time. Lectures are borderline unintelligible, especially as he switches to slides instead of chalk boarding once the content becomes harder in 3D. Class is structured to be ridiculously easy. Grading is generous with 6 quizzes each worth 5%, homework totaling 20%, and two exams each worth 25%. Homework is always taken directly from the textbook. Textbook has answer keys in the back, and a worked out solution manual is easily pirateable off libgen or annas archive. It is very feasible to go into the final with a near 100%. Exams have some extra credit too, and quiz grades rarely dip below 90 due to generous grading. The tradeoff is that discussion attendance is borderline mandatory. The crux of this class is in the name - Dynamics of Particles pre-midterm, and Dynamics of Rigid Bodies post-midterm. Dynamics of Particles is Physics 1A, but again. There are legitimately next to no differences compared to 1A. Kinematics, Kinetics, Work-Energy Theorem, Rotation, Inertia, Momentum. Same stuff as AP Physics. You very well may take this content for the 3rd time in a row. There's a tiny amount of calculus, and a fair amount of cross products, but there's really no difficulty in this half. The shit hits the fan around week 5/6. Rigid bodies are a nightmare, and the the calculations required to expand from particles become so hairy so fast. I highly recommend purchasing a TI Nspire or another calculator that performs cross products, because you have to do so many. This is new content, and it doesn't make sense. I had no intuition for it, so I made up basically everything I did. Go to office hours, make sure you understand every single lecture, and don't let your grades deceive you into thinking you're prepared for the final. You have to know everything. Final was graded extremely generously, and I got a C+ despite putting forth a D- effort. Ended the class with an unsatisfying A and a sour taste in my mouth, plus I feel boned for 162A. Rigid Body Dynamics are a bitch, and while they may seem easier than the other 10X level classes, this content needs your attention. Don't make my mistakes, and you should bag the easiest A of your life.
Fall 2024 - This was the least deserved A of my life. Reuter is a sweet middle aged European man. He's friendly, typically is in a good mood, and is usually on time. Lectures are borderline unintelligible, especially as he switches to slides instead of chalk boarding once the content becomes harder in 3D. Class is structured to be ridiculously easy. Grading is generous with 6 quizzes each worth 5%, homework totaling 20%, and two exams each worth 25%. Homework is always taken directly from the textbook. Textbook has answer keys in the back, and a worked out solution manual is easily pirateable off libgen or annas archive. It is very feasible to go into the final with a near 100%. Exams have some extra credit too, and quiz grades rarely dip below 90 due to generous grading. The tradeoff is that discussion attendance is borderline mandatory. The crux of this class is in the name - Dynamics of Particles pre-midterm, and Dynamics of Rigid Bodies post-midterm. Dynamics of Particles is Physics 1A, but again. There are legitimately next to no differences compared to 1A. Kinematics, Kinetics, Work-Energy Theorem, Rotation, Inertia, Momentum. Same stuff as AP Physics. You very well may take this content for the 3rd time in a row. There's a tiny amount of calculus, and a fair amount of cross products, but there's really no difficulty in this half. The shit hits the fan around week 5/6. Rigid bodies are a nightmare, and the the calculations required to expand from particles become so hairy so fast. I highly recommend purchasing a TI Nspire or another calculator that performs cross products, because you have to do so many. This is new content, and it doesn't make sense. I had no intuition for it, so I made up basically everything I did. Go to office hours, make sure you understand every single lecture, and don't let your grades deceive you into thinking you're prepared for the final. You have to know everything. Final was graded extremely generously, and I got a C+ despite putting forth a D- effort. Ended the class with an unsatisfying A and a sour taste in my mouth, plus I feel boned for 162A. Rigid Body Dynamics are a bitch, and while they may seem easier than the other 10X level classes, this content needs your attention. Don't make my mistakes, and you should bag the easiest A of your life.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Her lectures were derivation heavy, so I ended up not watching them and just using the equations that she spent the lecture deriving on the homework/tests. The clicker questions aren't reason enough to watch the lecture if you're not paying attention to them, they are a very minor grade boost (less than half a percent). You are required to attend the first 20 minutes of discussion to take a weekly quiz, and those end up being a large part of your final grade, but they are pretty simple. You can leave the discussion after that, but discussion is probably a bit more useful since the TA will just be doing example problems. There is weekly homework that has pretty complex problems (much harder compared to tests/quizzes), and if you are able to figure those out (which is doable if you give it a few hours of thought, just start them early and try to work out the path to the answer, if you get stuck then wait a day and look again, don't look up the answers), then the quizzes and tests will be insanely easy compared to those. The midterm and final were just like a normal midterm and final, all in a Zoom call with the professor. They had the same level of difficulty as the quizzes (aka much easier than the homework).
Fall 2020 - Her lectures were derivation heavy, so I ended up not watching them and just using the equations that she spent the lecture deriving on the homework/tests. The clicker questions aren't reason enough to watch the lecture if you're not paying attention to them, they are a very minor grade boost (less than half a percent). You are required to attend the first 20 minutes of discussion to take a weekly quiz, and those end up being a large part of your final grade, but they are pretty simple. You can leave the discussion after that, but discussion is probably a bit more useful since the TA will just be doing example problems. There is weekly homework that has pretty complex problems (much harder compared to tests/quizzes), and if you are able to figure those out (which is doable if you give it a few hours of thought, just start them early and try to work out the path to the answer, if you get stuck then wait a day and look again, don't look up the answers), then the quizzes and tests will be insanely easy compared to those. The midterm and final were just like a normal midterm and final, all in a Zoom call with the professor. They had the same level of difficulty as the quizzes (aka much easier than the homework).
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