Reflective Letter

 

              After taking the course I can determine that I have a better understanding of fluid mechanics and different principles used with the field. We were able to apply things we already knew such as forces, pressure, buoyancy, viscosity, friction loses, drag, and lift forces amongst other principles into computing values that are given in order to find what is being asked for. I have learned that the Bernoulli’s equation is the back bone for this course, since it is used in all of the situations that are presented in the course. The equation can be rearranged to solve for the missing information we need to solve for. Such as the principles mentioned above as well as the flow rate of a system, minor loses of the pipes and fittings, length and diameters of pipes. We practice these methods in our homework’s to gain a clear view on how these equations are being used in real life situations that we come across daily. With the exams it helped combined what we learned and apply it to a design that was presented. The Bernoulli’s equation was used multiple times along with other equations to solve for minor loses within the system. Then entered into an excel sheet to proceed with iterations to get a more accurate answer for a percent difference of 1% following a rule of 1%, 5%, and 10% within the system. We had the opportunity to work as a group with our classmates to apply what we learned to explain a principle of fluid mechanics to elementary students, as a project to showcase our knowledge. It gave us a good insight on how engineers use the design process that we learn early in our intro to engineering course in our college career, and use the skills we picked up along the way to come up with good design considerations. These are skills and methods used by engineers in the field or industry daily when working on several project throughout their career, and are important for use to get an early understanding. Where if we make mistakes now it can be corrected early on so that these mistakes will not happen in the professional field. If I were to take the course again I would focus on reviewing the notes and spend time practicing using what was presented to use in extra homework problems. Try to keep up with the assignments and ask for help whenever I get stuck on certain exercises. I feel that now after taking the course I learned more in depth situations where the information that we learned from other classes can actually be apply in designs or machinery we come across in our lives. Being able to determine the length and diameter of pipes for a system of pipelines and how much flow rate is required. Learning how to input those equations in an excel spreadsheet also helped a lot to calculate different iterations for that design in order to get a more accurate value. My weakness would be not asking for help and clarification at the beginning of the semester once I got stuck, and not being able to keep up with certain homework exercises due to other classes. At the beginning of the course I didn’t expect it to have more work than your average 3 credit course since the shift to online classes could have had an effect on the course. Now that the course is over I think that if I were to take the class again that I would only take this class by its self and not add any other classes that could conflict with the assignments and exams that this course has.     

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