Do Mechanical Engineers Need To Be Good At Math?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video I talk about how much math you REALLY need to become a mechanical engineer.
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0:00 Intro
2:01 How much math you need to study engineering
5:19 How much math you need to work as an engineer
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As a 3rd year mechanical engineering student, I can assure that there's a lot of hard math to learn. but you don't necessarily need to be good at math, you just need to work super hard for 4 years!! Awesome video btw, very cute vibe :)
Ahaha you're not wrong! I had the luck at my uni that I could choose my 4th year courses and master's courses quite freely, so I could avoid math from there on 😇
What math do you learn? Calc 1 2 3 4 5?
Differential equations? And?
I agree but you might not have to work super hard necessarily. I’m not particularly good at math but I’m good at analyzing problems. If I can get through my Me program high af and drink more than half the time, anyone can. If you’re more interested in the production side of engineering i.e. manufacturing engineer, you’ll most likely use more statistics than any other math
@@sounakroy1933 for mechanical engineering, for UWF, you’ll take Calc 1,2,3, differential equations, chemistry, physics w/Calc 1 and 2. After that, the rest of your courses involve applying what you learned while learning new math and techniques. It sounds daunting but please please please let me tell you, if I can do it, you can too. To answer Why: you need to know how to find the area or volume under a curve (Calc integrals) or Newtonian physics to find force and torque. You need chemistry to understand material sciences so you understand what type of materials you should you use for your design. Every course you’ll take in your engineering program will involve math but if you have good analytical skills and able to see thing from the outside looking in, you’ll be good my friend. The hardest class I took was Thermal Fluids but that was mainly due to not studying because most of Thermal Fluids are tables and algebra.
@@sounakroy1933
Algebra
Single variable calculus
Ordinary differential equations
Multivariable calculus
Vector calculus
Partial differential equations
Calculus of Variations
Statistics
Operations Research and Optimization
Mathematics is the language of the physical sciences, plus a few other related fields. The same language is spoken by scientists in every country, regardless of the native language, and it's the language in which university science and engineering courses are taught. The trick for me was working hard, doing more than just the assigned problems, and doing homework with a group of fellow sufferers. It's a LOT of work, but entirely doable for anyone with the necessary aptitude and dedication.
You need to put in the work to learn the math. There is no way around it. Practice makes perfect. As a recent mechanical engineer graduate, I can say that my junior classes (fluid mechanics, vibrations , controls …etc) had a lot of differential equations and derivation. But we weren’t asked to derive anything on exams. Understanding the concepts and how to use the derived equations was the most important thing.
Sir i am from India. Recently passed 12th is mechanical engineering branch is good ? if someone is passionate about it because people ask me to choose computer science engineering but i am not interested very much so, can you please tell me what should i choose
As a mechanical engineer about to graduate I would say math grants you some agility within physics that can improve your understanding a lot. While you can get away with basic understanding, putting in that extra effort often leads to better insight in the problems you are dealing with. Thanks for the video. Definitely deserves a sub!
Thanks for the sub & your insights! :)
Ahem.. Not wishing to offend you but you are NOT a ME when you graduate.. You are an engineering graduate. I found this offensive when this was told to me nearly 40 years ago. After 25 years in the job you will understand this..:). I used to build and run run wafer fabrication facilities. The system engineers that worked for me I could trust not to crater the wafer fabs after about 4 years of direct experience. Its bit like a medical graduate, yes they may have the title "doctor" but they work under close supervision before they are allowed to start cutting open live patients. Engineers are similar, a large wafer fab measures the loss of production time in excess of $1M per hour. If a mechanical support system fails, or even goes out of control then there can easily be several hours of fabrication stoppage. Having had to answer for my sins on several occasions to angry fab managers, this is the last place I would ever want one of my junior engineers to be! Its a great career though. I saved and retired at the age of 52, now I get calls on a daily basis from companies looking for my expertise. Its a good "problem" to have.. Good luck!
Mechanical Engineer in Building Industry in Canada.
I use math every single day. Solving various equations like the thermodynamics and fluid mechanics equations.
However, no calculus, no linear algebra. All excel spreadsheets and software.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience! :)
I hope you can reply to this comment before I select my technical electives 😅. I want to work in Building industry as a Mechanical Engineer and I was wondering if the only way to get in is by taking HVAC related courses
You're awesome! Thank you for making these videos - I am considering going back to school to study Mech Engineering and your videos are both helpful and cool.
I LOVED the vibes you are giving in this video! It’s awesome how you made complex/potentially boring topics into something so light and entertaining. Well done! I can’t wait for your next video!
Thank you so much Chris ☺ I appreciate you!
This definitely comforted me! I’m struggling in uni math rn and it’s been tough 🥲 but imagine my surprise when my two dream jobs (IP attorney, Product Designer)are the least math intensive lmao. Thank you for the video!
You got this!
Very informative, THANK YOU
ME with 37 years of experience here. You know what they say.. "Engineers have forgotten more math that most people learn in a lifetime"..:
Hahaha I love that!
yes that s what my mechanical engineering graduate dad, who only remembered the power rule in calculus, told me
@@HonWinLai Yup lose it if you don't use it. I emigrated to the USA after graduating in the UK, so I ended up doing the FE and PE exams some 25 years after graduation.. Lets just say it was pretty intense getting my math skills up to that level again. The good thing though is I then had the experience an my "book" skills were sharp so it made me a better engineer. This meant my services were much sought after!
I have already forgotten what I learnt last semester. Not a ME major but still there’s tons of math that I have to go through still….
Enjoyed watching your videos, you’re doing great!
Thank you so much!
Thank you! Another great video full of useful information and a good sprinkling of humour. Keep 'em coming!
Graduated mechanical engineer, really cool video. gives me more energy to follow the path in process engineering. Waiting for more video's
Congrats on graduating! Glad you've been enjoying the videos :)
You give great insights , and you are really sweet. Hope you get really good reach in ur TH-cam contents
Thank you!
Love the channel just subscribed.
Great advice.
Fluid Mechanics, Dynamics, and Strength are killing me this semester.
I think people need to understand that it’s completely normal to not understand everything in lecture. They instead think they’re “not good at math”. Maths is suppose to be difficult haha.
Hahahaaa..... Anna Reich. I think I'll categorize myself in your category. First I doubted myself and kinda predominantly used to reaccess myself if I was a engineer. This is even after I had been employed in Water production company as a Mechanical Engineer. You just made me fine and perfectly okay😂. Big loves from Ghana 💕.
Same here while enigineering my 4 years of college in Psychology and Business "common sense + subtraction and addition" pick back up at Masters!
I enjoyed your piece - well done. I am also pleased to see more women entering the profession now than they ever did in my young days.
I graduated in Mech Eng at an English university in 1957. My whole education up to that point had been calculator and computer free. The main calculating tool was the 10 in slide rule, known affectionately in the profession as a " guessing stick ", in conjunction with log tables and numerous and voluminous tables of numerical values of many kinds.
When I was an early teenager I was very poor at mathematics. I realized later that this was due basically to bad teaching. In my mid teens I knew I wanted a career in engineering, rather than pure science. To achieve that goal, I HAD to master applied mathematics. SO, basically that's what I did. Doing or applying math is all about perseverance and confidence. The more you solve problems the more confidence you will have, and that makes for greater success.
There is a basic difference between how physicists use math, and the way engineers use it. Physicists seem to believe the math drives physics. Engineers use common sense first, their creative abilities, and use the math to explain or justify their thinking. In engineering math is a tool, no more no less, and it's necessary to learn how to use the tool, just as any craftsman must do.
Nowadays, my engineering days long behind me, I maintain an interest in recreational mathematics. I have learned to. be selective in directing my interest. Math is a huge subject, and all professional mathematicians specialize. So, as an individual tinkerer, I never try to understand, or even feign an interest in any part of math that does not appeal. As an amateur you will find enough food for thought in the bit of math that does interest you.
Oh and BTW I have never doubted that engineering is a noble endeavour ; I've heard some say that engineers, are " the salt of the Earth ".
Thank you very much for sharing your story and insights. I like the way you describe the difference between physicists and engineers. I very much identify with "using common sense first" and checking later if the math supports my ideas.
The term "recreational mathematics" made me laugh as it sounds like a contradiction to me, but very cool that it doesn't to you!
@@theannareich Thank you for your appreciative comments. When you have time I would recommend looking at math as a form of recreation. As such you can choose which kind of problem appeals to you and which does not. Math is a huge subject an as individuals we will be well blessed if we are ever able to understand anything but a small part. For myself, I don't try to solve problems which for one reason or another have no appeal. Of the ones that do, I often find myself returning to the same problem and trying to find alternative methods in an attempt to achieve something beautiful, For there is beauty there, and as is often said, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Love your sense of humor. Not sure about your school, but mine was nearly all math intensive. I had more math than math majors. BS in mechanical engineering and MS in fracture analysis (100% math of highest level). Thanks.
Thanks for making this video. I’m a third-year chemistry major and I’ve completed all the required math courses for my major. These are: Calculus I and II, Linear Algebra I, and Statistics I and II.
Fantastic!
I'm returning to finish my degree after taking calculus then not using it for over 20 years... yeah. I just took Differential Equations as my final math-only class and managed an A (dropped it the semester before that while taking Dynamics). In 3 weeks I'll be taking Thermodynamics 1, Statistics & Probability, MatLab and Solid Mechanics. What should I be reviewing to prepare? Thanks so much for this video too!
As a current ME major taking 3rd year courses, most of the math in advanced classes are just add ons on stuff you already studied in previous classes. At the end of the day computers do most of the work for us, its just knowing what inputs to put and checking if the output makes sense or not. Somewhat of a oversimplified explanation of course.
Very true! Which means if you didn't pay attention during the previous classes, you're lost forever 😄
I have a question though, do you use any specific software for production design or factory design or factory layout. and by the way thank you for the great video, your attitude is amazing.
42 years as a design engineer consultant specializing in complex systems. I admit to being a total aberration as I never, ever, could grasp algebra and if you can't do algebra, well...'nuff said. Nevertheless I've been quite successful and have been the chief engineer (or sometimes the sole engineer) on 3 dozen+ major projects over the years. So I'd like to share some wisdom (if I can call it that): 1) a foundational maxim: "a good design can survive poor engineering better than good engineering can survive a poor design". This correlates to the underlying concept that design engineers, who are kinda the fighter jet pilots of the engineering world, must be able to meld two almost mutually exclusive traits: engineering, which is a knowledge based skill and can be taught to anyone with an organized mind and some propensity towards math; and design, which is an art and a talent and is vexingly hard to teach...it's more of a congenital acquisition. 2) a sufficiently intuitive grasp of the conceptual physics which underlie everything that mechanical engineers do. If you have that, you can learn to apply the various modern tools available to us design engineers such as FEA, kinematic analysis, engineering toolbox, etc to great effect and realize when you get a realistic result, or a result that couldn't possibly be true. The tools which come with modern CAD software, such as simulation and motion, in my Solidworks best buddy, take almost all of the sweat beads off the forehead when confronted with optimizing almost anything. And especially now, emergent AI technologies will make these tools ever more useful and intuitive. The main times that math is needed, IMHO, is when you are working out the essential functional specs of some design. How much power, what work is being done, what is kind of forces are expected, how fast must it move, those kinds of things. Generally, the initial values which must be determined don't need to have an accuracy greater than the first order (go ahead, lay on the hate :-) ) to launch a design and the iterative process works for this. Then you can at least launch the design effort. 3) last but not least is the ability to perform reality checks on what you are doing: Does this make sense? Am I working out data that I will actually need? Are my concepts reasonable? And just in general, WTF? This aspect of mechanical design engineering is perhaps the most critical. I know so many highly skilled engineers with massive math chops who can dash off equations like they are jotting down a shopping list and yet have no idea whatsoever why they are trying to figure out what it is they are working towards, or why it's relevant because they struggle to put together the big picture. University is great at teaching the What, not so good at really instilling a deep grasp of the Why. But it's the why which drives almost everything because, really, WHY bother in the first place? Now go forth and create!
I watched this video before I started schooling, this video has really helped me a lot
Am a 1st year student reading Mechanical Engineering
Thank you, that's so great to hear! Best of luck for your studies ✨
Really informative video! I have replayed 3:49 for an unhealthy amount of time 😂
🤣🤣🤣
You did not like Linear Algebra in college? What about now? The notion of orthogonal decomposition of a signal or a system (into its frequency components) is nicely explained in Linear Algebra using vector spaces.
You are excellent...I studied in India examiner loves to ask derivations of som formulas, prove that or show that .. theory subjects we had to support our answers with sketches and if someone wrote specific answer in brief examiner might give pass mark or fail .out of thrity pages of sheet answers we must fill at least 20 till 25 pages in theory subjects but other subjects that deals with math it's depends in Ur answers for example mechanics of materials I filled only 13 pages and I got 55 out 75..
Like 15 years ago I had to write a program to estimate the location of electronic tag on an animal underwater using fairly unreliable sensors. I had math dreams and nightmares for several months. I went back to look at the code a couple years ago and its as if some one else wrote it I dont even know how it works anymore… now i have no math dreams but i suck at math.
😢
Great videos 🤙🤣🥂
Thaanks 🙌
I'm in the 4th category, didn't always do great in math, other people were much better and I just did it for the sake of it, after coming to university I understood it and enjoyed doing it :)
That's great!
*HEYYUH, I AM A BSMEDBIO STUDENT;BUT I ALSO WANT TO CREATE A COMPANY OF AI LIKE THE AI HOSPITAL IN JAPAN--THIS VLOG OF YOURS TRULY HELPS US*
In ur job do you use a lot of operations research and Optimisation
yes....perfect grading.
Aerospace engineering is the best ❤
Please you can do more videos on engineering 🙏
whats the title of your bg music? its relaxing and im thinking about shifting from M.E to I.T because im bored i want to do some stuff while learning and in my course we dont do that we are just solving and learning pretty boring.
The background music is called "No.1 A Minor Waltz" by Esther Abrami 😊 You can download it for free from the TH-cam audio library. Good luck with the shift! ✨
I'm an engineering student. Linear Algebra makes no sense to me too. It's impossible to visualize..😂
Thank you.❤️ This video made me feel better..
Glad to hear! Good luck with getting through 🥲
How about the drawing part of mc? I can’t draw for the life of me but I really wanna study mc?
I started to watch this videos because the subjet is Mechanical Enginering... but the true is that i'm here for Anna
Thank you, that's very sweet :)
Dear Anna, greetings from kigali Rwanda. Is it possible to become a Mechanic Ingenior without having gone at school? And do it by your creativity without planing to get job somewhere just planing to create your products?
I am new to mechanical engineering discipline.I am interested in designing mechanical parts for small wheeled robots for the embedded systems master-students (Electronics).I wonder if you have a simple and easy software tool to design wheels,gears...etc. Thanks for your feedback.
Unfortunately I don't have any experience with free CAD software since I was always provided with paid CAD software but I recommend to give it a quick google search and try out a few, there are definitely lots of options out there. And if anyone else has some recommendations, feel free to comment below :)
I like the E=mc^2 in the thubnial which you are almost never going to use as a enginieer I like it tho as a physicst
Thanks for being honest about wasting time with derivations. As a physics major, I even thought those lectures were a waste. Just show me how to use the Hamiltonian/Langrangian to get the answer......
i don't even have a foundation at math and im wondering if i can push through the absence of this foundation with a lot of studying or it would just be better to take a gap year to build that foundation.
what have you decided to do
In what way could google sketchup help in the matter ? Thanks in advance for answering.
Sorry, I don't understand the question. I don't think I mentioned Google sketchup in the video. Could you explain?
😂 great video
You know it amazes me that ME students find electrical engineering math difficult. All you have to be able to do is imaginary math and the square root of 3.. ooh multiply by the complex conjugate.. Yawn! That stuff is easy. Now Thermo is a different matter.. I never really understood my thermo classes until I studied it for the second time for my Professional engineering exams in the United States. When I got it though I REALLY got it.. I loved thermo problems after that, just took me until 25 years AFTER graduation to finally get there..:).
these days just use eng sims and scientific calcs..of course you would have to know what to ask and how to interpret the results.
I can assure anyone that if you hate math, you shouldn't be an engineer. If you're willing to learn, then maybe you'd do well as an engineer.
This is like asking "Do you need to have a medical license to be a doctor"
what? I studied Calculus I, II and III, then Differential Equations and then Numerical Methods
😅
Math makes me as excited as playing soccer, but for some reason engineering doesn’t as much and I am still thinking I should keep studying mechanical engineering, anybody else loves math but for some reason not engineering as much?
I have the opposite, I love engineering much more than math haha
But there are plenty of jobs that require a lot of math and little to no engineering, so I'm sure you can find something suitable!
Statistics sounds like a potential match for you. It is a very high growth field with broad industry relevance and tons of very well-paying jobs attached to it. All product design & manufacturing companies need statisticians to plan & operate their businesses and quality systems from early development through commercialized products.
could you explain the different kinds
Hahaha I should not have suggested it - will do my best to get a video like this out ;)
hahaha no backsies
As a mechanical engineer, I can assure, Mathematics is everything in engineering.
I want to know if a mechanical engineer can take a master degree in aeronautical engineering?
Yes. Very easily.
I am category 1 :)
I hate math but I'm better at it than English. I'm a Mechanical Engineer 😂😂😂... You DON'T NEED TO BE GREAT AT IT!! TRUST ME
LOL at the number of engineers I've met who hate math (but love engineering) 🤣
My hardest class was Vibration
Then I'm very happy I never had to take that 😅
@@theannareich 🤣🤣🤣. but after that it's a cool class.
Hi Anna, how did you learn to speak such good English?
Hi Ziheng Liao! Thanks so much, glad to hear my German accent doesn't come through too much 😅
Tbh I think the main thing that helped me is watching an unhealthy amount of TH-cam for the past 10+ years. I lived in the USA for 1 year when I was 16-17 and from then on 99% of all videos, books, shows, movies, music, etc. I consume were in English.
i think you need to be good at math. Not an expert, or extremely good. But decently good. In my university, i had:
Calculus 1 (one variable), 2 (two or more variables), 3 (vector calculus).
Differential Equations
Probability and statistics
Linear algebra 1 and 2.
+ one elective math course
8 courses in total + ALL the physics courses.
Many people dropped out of their mechanical engineering major because they coudn't understand the math. Including two of my best friends.
Thanks for sharing! :)
I am care mekanik
Hay quá
Can i became mechanical engineer if i am week in math❤ Yes or No?
I think you can if you're willing to put in a lot more work than your classmates
Are DIY people a threat to engineering???
New follower from Iraq
Thanks for subbing! :)
Master linear algebra and your time will be easier
i feel atacked I love math
Where is the CFD gang?
Of course u need to be good at math unless u want to study 4 hours everyday for calculus etc....
Don't forget that an engineer can do a PhD, and as a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, i can say that you need to much math ! In my field, non linear diffential equation, and a lot of matrix. I thing that an engineer that works in R&D need to much math.
That's a good point!
Hey, I think I might be from the 3rd category.
Amazing! Hahaha
يقدعان اغنية الدحييح
Math isn't really **hard**
You just need to study und understand it.
No not hard, it is impossible.
Hahaha love the different perspectives
@@paulcoy5201😅
Do mechanical engineers build robots
Yes, some do! It's a joined effort of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering that is needed for building robots :)
I studied mechanical engineering but 100 percent this job is not for me. Good luck in your career path.
What are u thinking of moving to
If you don't understand derivations, you don't understand mathematics. You are just applying.
That's my point, engineers are no mathematicians. You can be but for my job there are so many more important skills than understanding the math behind the formulas.
@@theannareich Exactly. As long as you can understand the inputs of a formula and are able to interpret the outputs, thats good enough.
True but its enough for the engineer to be able to apply a system of Equations to a modelling situation. Knowing The derivation doesn’t help you in modelling unless you’re trying to build an even better model than existing ones
Hi
if you are German, why don't work in Germany? why you are in Sweden? I am in Germany now und I like Sweden as well. best regards
I got stuck here with a job I love after my exchange year 😅
@@theannareich viel Erfolg 😍😍
YES, you definitely need Math.
Yes,Yes Yes Yes. Stop sugar coating lol
Lol business executive, management consultant, intellectual property attorney and patent lawyer are not even part of engineering. These jobs are for business and law majors.
Actually not only for those majors! For example, an IP or patent lawyer needs to understand the patents they are working with, so an engineering background comes in handy :)
My university offered a master's degree for engineers who want to go into patent law.
As for executive or management consultant, you can go into these fields with basically any background but depending on your background, you'll likely work in different industries.
Nobody in that last category is here bc cause they're already engineers :D
Hi Ana! you have good videos but i think they should better if you talk little slower than you talk righ now. I wish i had a mate like you in my career.
you're so cute! :)
do you have boyfriend?
yes 😊
can i follow your instagram? you missed out field service engineer and software engineer as well as maintenance engineer
Sure, my instagram is @theannareich :) Thanks, these are great ideas for professions I could make videos about in the future! What does a field service engineer do? It's the first time I of that profession 😃
@@theannareich its difficult to explain here because its very big scope also, in asia and especially singapore, the engineers are not well paid at all like in the western area. Even the insurance agent or cooks able to make a lot more salary.