Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering, abbreviated as ME, is an engineering discipline that utilizes the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It requires a solid understanding of many key concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics and energy. Practitioners of mechanical engineering, known as mechanical engineers, use these principles and others in the design and analysis of automobiles, aircraft, heating & cooling systems, manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, medical devices and more.
Mechanical engineers can be used as project managers or design engineers for many different applications. Mechanical engineers design and specify individual components to complete systems and facilities.
Mechanical engineering Glossary
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- Acceleration - The rate of change of velocity. Whenever a mass experiences a force, an acceleration is acting.
- Angular velocity - The speed that an object moves through an angle, θ. The calculation below calculates ω but does not calculate the relative velocity of a point as it moves throughout the curve.
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- Fitting - A piping component that is used to join piping, change the direction or diameter of piping or end the pipe.
- Flange - A bolted connection where two pieces of pipe, equipment, fittings or valves are connected together to form a piping system.
- Friction - The mechanical resistance to the relative movement of two surfaces.
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- Horsepower - A measure of power or the rate of doing work.
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- Law of inertia - See Newton's first law
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- Newton's first law - A object at rest remains at rest and a object in motion continues to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.
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- Power - The rate of doing work and is measured by the amount of foot pounds of work done in a particular unit of time.
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- Speed - The rate of change or distance with time.
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- Valve - A mechanism used to stop or open and regulate flow. The type of valve used depends on the application.
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- Work - The overcoming of resistance through space and is the measure of force x distance.
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