List of all ME courses

4 Credits
Available select Fall terms
Lecture only

OSU catalog link

ME 317 or equivalent
Kagan Tumer
426 Rogers Hall

Course Description

A graduate course focused on dynamics of rigid bodies using Newtonian mechanics.


  • Intrinsic and extrinsic variables
  • Rotation transformations and direction cosines
  • Three-dimensional kinematics of rigid bodies
  • Kinematics of mechanical devices
  • Three-dimensional kinetics of rigid bodies
  • Multi-body Newtonian dynamics

Learning Outcomes


  1. Derive the position, velocity, angular velocity, acceleration, and angular acceleration vectors associated with three-dimensional rigid body motion.
  2. Formulate and solve three-dimensional kinematics problems using Euler angles, direction cosines or quaternions.
  3. Formulate and solve kinematics problems for mechanical devices with constraints.
  4. Derive the dynamic equations of motion for a three-dimensional rigid body using Newtonian dynamics.
  5. Generate the dynamic equations of motion for systems of rigid bodies using Newtonian dynamics.