UNIT 1

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that

was developed from the application of principles from physics (the
science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two,
grouped in traditional fields such as acoustics, optics, mechanics,
thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, as well as in modern
extensions including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-
state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics) and materials
science (the study of the characteristics and uses of the various
materials, such as metals, ceramics, and plastics, that are employed
in science and technology). According to the American Heritage
Dictionary, it is the branch of engineering that encompasses the
generation and application of heat (a form of energy associated with
the motion of atoms or molecules and capable of being transmitted
through solid and fluid media by conduction, through fluid media by
convection, and through empty space by radiation) and mechanical
power and the design, production, and use of machines (devices
consisting of fixed and moving parts that modify mechanical energy
and transmit it in a more useful form) and tools (devices used to
perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work). It is one of the
oldest and broadest engineering disciplines.
The field requires a solid understanding of core concepts
including mechanics (the branch of physics that is concerned with the
analysis of the action of forces on matter or material systems),
kinematics (the branch of mechanics that studies the motion of a
body or a system of bodies without consideration given to its mass or
the forces acting on it), thermodynamics (the branch of physics that
deals with the relationships between heat and other forms of energy),
fluid mechanics (the branch of mechanics that is concerned with the
properties of gases and liquids), heat transfer, materials science, and
energy (the capacity of a physical system to do work).
Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as
other knowledge in the field to design and analyze manufacturing
plants, industrial equipment and machinery, heating and cooling
systems, motor vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, robotics, medical
devices and more. (After Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

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 Exercises

1. Answer the questions below.

- What is mechanical engineering?

- What is physics?
- What is materials science?
- What is heat?
- What is mechanical power?
- What is a machine?
- What is a tool?
- What is mechanics?
- What is kinematics?
- What is thermodynamics?
- What is fluid mechanics?
- What is energy?
- What do mechanical engineers use in their work?

2. True or false? Tick the proper case from below.

Statement True False

Energy is also defined as usable heat or power.
Kinematics is the branch of mechanics that studies
the motion of a body or a system of bodies without
consideration given to its mass or the forces acting
on it.
Materials science is the study of the characteristics
and uses of all materials.
Mechanical engineering is an engineering discipline
that was developed from the application of principles
from physics and materials science.
Mechanical engineering requires a solid
understanding of chore concepts.
Mechanical engineers use the core principals as well
as other knowledge in the field to design and analyze
manufacturing plants.
Thermodynamics is the branch of physics that deals
with the study of thermos bottles.

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3. Find the proper definition for the nouns in the first column.

Noun Definition
1. mechanic a. a machine or mechanical appliance, the
arrangement of connected parts in a
machine; a system of parts that operate or
interact like those of a machine
2. mechanical b. a worker skilled in making, using, or
drawing repairing machines, vehicles, and tools
3. mechanical c. drafting; drawing, such as an architect’s
engineering plans, that enables measurements to be
interpreted
4. mechanics d. medical treatment by mechanical methods,
such as massage
5. mechanism e. the branch of engineering that
encompasses the generation and
application of heat and mechanical power
and the design, production, and use of
machines and tools
6. mechanotherapy f. the branch of physics that is concerned
with the analysis of the action of forces on
matter or material systems; design,
construction, and use of machinery or
mechanical structures

4. Fill in with the proper adjective from below.

mechanical – mechanistic – mechanochemical –

mechanotherapeutic

- A … watch is a watch that uses a non-electric/electronic

mechanism to measure the passage of time.
- My father has good … skills.
- The conversion of chemical energy into mechanical work is
a … process.
- The doctor recommended … procedures such as massage.
- The functioning of this device is mechanically determined, it
is …
- While visiting the shop, I was tempted to buy a nice … toy dog.

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5. Define the types of engineering below, as in the model. Use an
English language dictionary.

Aerospace engineering →
Aerospace engineering is engineering related to aircraft and
space vehicles.

- Aerospace / Aeronautical engineering

- Agricultural engineering
- Aquatic and environmental engineering
- Architectural engineering
- Automotive engineering
- Chemical engineering
- Civil engineering
- Computer engineering
- Construction engineering
- Ecological engineering
- Electrical engineering
- Environmental engineering
- Fire protection engineering
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydraulic engineering
- Industrial engineering
- Landscape engineering
- Marine engineering
- Materials engineering
- Mechanical engineering
- Mining engineering
- Nuclear engineering
- Quality engineering
- Safety engineering
- Security engineer
- Software engineering
- Structural engineering
- Surveying engineering
- Traffic engineering

6. Put the types of engineering above into your mother tongue. What
can you notice?

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7. Identify the nouns in the singular in the text below.

In addition to the core mechanical engineering curriculum, many

mechanical engineering programs offer more specialized programs
and classes such as mechatronics/robotics, transport and logistics,
cryogenics, fuel technology, automotive engineering, biomechanics,
vibration, optics and others, if a separate department does not exist
for these subjects.

8. Supply the singular of the nouns in the plural form below where
possible.

- branches …
- machines …
- mechanics …
- molecules …
- news …
- physics …
- studies …
- thermodynamics …

9. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate verb form (singular/plural).

- A great number of students … fond of mechatronics.

- A lot of colleagues … hard working students who … eager to
complete the course as soon as possible.
- He hopes to get an internship at the University of Athens
because Athens … very nice city.
- Mechanical engineering … not a static field of engineering.
- Mechanical engineers … constantly pushing boundaries of
what … physically possible.
- Mechatronics … my favourite subject and it … dealing with
automata.
- Neither I nor my colleagues … interested in robotics.
- Our professor and the Dean … invited as a host professor at
the Athens University.
- Some technologies at the cutting edge of mechanical
engineering … mechatronics, nanotechnology and nuclear
fusion.

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10. Fill in the correct words derived from the given word.

Noun (abstract) Noun (person) Adjective Adverb

analysis
electronics
engine
mechanics
technology

11. Put the following into your mother tongue.

There are two things to remember about email addresses in English:

- The @ sign is called at in English. This comes from
bookkeeping/invoicing (4 tyres @ GBP 45 each). Other languages
have found different names for this sign: the Danish call it snabel,
the Dutch call it apestaart (monkey tail), the French arobas, the
Germans Klammeraffe (spider monkey), the Italians chiocciola
(snail), the Norwegians krØllalfa (curly a), the Romanians coadă
de maimuţă (monkey tail), the Russians sabachka (dog), the
Spaniards arroba, and the Swedish snabel-a (elephant’s trunk).
- Use the term dot to indicate a full stop on the line to divide letters
or words in the address.

Let’s Laugh!

One day a group of engineers got together and decided that man had
come a long way and no longer needed God. They picked one
engineer to go and tell Him that they were done with Him. The
engineer walked up to God and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no
longer need you. We’re to the point that we can clone people and do
many miraculous things, so why don’t you just go on and get lost.”
God listened patiently to the man and after the engineer was done
talking, God said, “Very well! How about this? Let’s have a man-
making contest.” The man replied, “Okay, great!” But God added,
“Now we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with
Adam.” The engineers said, “Sure, no problem.” He bent down and
grabbed himself a handful of dirt. God just looked at him and said,
“No, no, no. Go get your own dirt!”

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