Dynamics
An MIT OpenCourseWare graduate course in mechanical engineering covering advanced dynamics beyond introductory momentum and energy principles. Topics include Hamilton's principle and Lagrange's equations, three-dimensional kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies, steady motions and small deviations from them, gyroscopic effects and causes of instability, free and forced vibrations of lumped-parameter and continuous systems, nonlinear oscillations analyzed through the phase plane, nonholonomic systems, and an introduction to wave propagation in continuous media. The course was originally developed by Professor T. Akylas and is offered through MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative, which provides course materials such as lecture notes and problem sets at no cost, with no certificate offered. It suits students who already have a foundation in classical mechanics and want a rigorous treatment of rigid body motion and vibration theory.