Unified Engineering Course Facts
9. Contact your classmates and discuss the problem with them.
10. Make a clear sketch. A well drawn figure can save a tremendous amount of time.
11. Work carefully through the problem. It is better to work slowly but get the right answer than
to work faster and make unnecessary (“stupid”) mistakes.
12. To avoid a round-off error, do not round numbers too early in the calculations.
13. Use a reasonable number of significant digits in your answer. More digits does not make it
more accurate.
14. Box your final answers clearly and check them. Do they make sense? A simple
dimensional analysis can catch a big mistake. Question numeric answers. If you get Mach
3.4 as the speed of a glider, you know something is wrong.
15. Make sure that all answers to a problem are consistent. For example, percentages should add
up to 100% and so on.
16. If you made a mistake at the end, don’t erase what you did before or rewrite everything. Just
mark what you found to be wrong and restart at the end. This shows the grader that you
checked what you had done.
17. Present the answer in the form asked for. For example, if a velocity (which has magnitude
and direction) is asked for, do not just give the speed (the magnitude of the velocity).
18. Write down clearly and unambiguously with whom you worked on the problem. If you fail
to do so, you will lose points. See the Course Facts handout under “Academic Honesty” for
details.
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
Problem 1.1A (Dynamics)
A rocket is projected vertically upward and achieves a burnout at time equal to zero. It reaches a
height above burnout equal to h at time t1 going up and t2 coming down. Find h and the speed v0
at burnout. Neglect the air drag.
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