Here we will learn about the mechanical behavior of structures and materials, from the continuum description of properties to the atomistic and molecular mechanisms that confer those properties to all materials. We will cover elastic and plastic deformation, creep, fracture and fatigue of materials including crystalline and amorphous metals, semiconductors, ceramics, and (bio)polymers, and will focus on the design and processing of materials from the atomic to the macroscale to achieve desired mechanical behavior. We will cover special topics in mechanical behavior for material systems of your choice, with reference to current research and publications.

Here we will learn about the mechanical behavior of structures and materials, from the continuum description of properties to the atomistic and molecular mechanisms that confer those properties to all materials. We will cover elastic and plastic deformation, creep, and fracture of materials including crystalline and amorphous metals, ceramics, and (bio)polymers, and will focus on the design and processing of materials from the atomic to the macroscale to achieve desired mechanical behavior. Integrated laboratories provide the opportunity to explore these concepts through hands-on experiments including instrumentation of pressure vessels, visualization of atomistic deformation in bubble rafts, nanoindentation, and uniaxial mechanical testing, as well as writing assignments to communicate these findings to either general scientific or nontechnical audiences.

This course is aimed at presenting the concepts underlying the response of polymeric materials to applied loads. These will include both the molecular mechanisms involved and the mathematical description of the relevant continuum mechanics. It is dominantly an “engineering” subject, but with an atomistic flavor. It covers the influence of processing and structure on mechanical properties of synthetic and natural polymers: Hookean and entropic elastic deformation, linear viscoelasticity, composite materials and laminates, yield and fracture.

12.524 is a survey of the mechanical behavior of rocks in natural geologic situations. Topics will include a brief survey of field evidence of rock deformation, physics of plastic deformation in minerals, brittle fracture and sliding, and pressure-solution processes. We will compare results of field petrologic and structural studies to data from experimental structural geology.

This is a calculus-based book meant for the first semester of the type of freshman survey course taken by engineering and physical science majors. A treatment of relativity is interspersed with the Newtonian mechanics, in optional sections. The book is designed so that it can be used as a drop-in replacement for the corresponding part of Simple Nature, for instructors who prefer a traditional order of topics. Simple Nature does energy before force, while Mechanics does force before energy. Simple Nature has its treatment of relativity all in a single chapter, rather than in parallel with the development of Newtonian mechanics.

Open textbook in statics and dynamics for engineering undergraduates. Covers particles and rigid bodies (extended bodies), structures (trusses), simple machines, kinematics, and kinetics, as well as introductory vibrations. Includes text, videos, images, and worked examples (written and video).

In Mechanics and Relativity, the reader is taken on a tour through time and space. Starting from the basic axioms formulated by Newton and Einstein, the theory of motion at both the everyday and the highly relativistic level is developed without the need of prior knowledge. The relevant mathematics is provided in an appendix. The text contains various worked examples and a large number of original problems to help the reader develop an intuition for the physics. Applications covered in the book span a wide range of physical phenomena, including rocket motion, spinning tennis rackets and high-energy particle collisions.

1.033 provides an introduction to continuum mechanics and material modeling of engineering materials based on first energy principles: deformation and strain; momentum balance, stress and stress states; elasticity and elasticity bounds; plasticity and yield design. The overarching theme is a unified mechanistic language using thermodynamics, which allows understanding, modeling and design of a large range of engineering materials. This course is offered both to undergraduate (1.033) and graduate (1.57) students.

Overview of mechanical properties of ceramics, metals, and polymers, emphasizing the role of processing and microstructure in controlling these properties. Basic topics in mechanics of materials including: continuum stress and strain, truss forces, torsion of a circular shaft and beam bending. Design of engineering structures from a materials point of view.

This course introduces students to the basic concepts of Medical Geology/Geochemistry. Medical Geology/Geochemistry is the study of the interaction between abundances of elements and isotopes and the health of humans and plants.

The natural world is a mega-factory of small molecules, peptides, fatty acids, phospholipids, and a host of other compounds, known as natural products (NPs). Immensely diverse in structure and function, NPs have strongly influenced how we treat infectious disease, cancer, pain, and a host of other conditions. Roughly half of the drugs that have been approved in the past 30 years are NPs, derivatives of NPs or NP-inspired. In this discussion-based course, we will delve into research on discovering NPs from producing organisms, investigating the biochemistry of NP production, and using synthetic biology to create NP derivatives—all with a particular emphasis on how genomic data guides and informs all these studies.
This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.

Microorganisms are the most abundant form of life on Earth and in recent decades it has become increasingly clear that their collective activities are one of the dominant forces shaping the planet.

This book provides earth scientists with an introduction to microbiology and a look at the ways microorganisms are important to their area of expertise. The first part of this book summarizes some basic information about microorganisms, including a discussion of their diversity, physical properties, and metabolisms. From there, the second and third portions of the book are organized around the two-way interactions between microorganisms and their environments. The second portion of the book considers the ways that environmental conditions help determine distributions of microbial activity, including chapters focused on thermodynamic, kinetic, and biological factors. The third and final portion of the book examines the impacts of microbes on their environments. These impacts are placed within the context of earth system science, with chapters focused on impacts to the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. In these chapters, emphasis is placed on microbial impacts to greenhouse gas levels and the quality of water resources, underscoring the relevance of microbiology to environmental concerns of keen interest in the earth science community and beyond.

This book is specifically designed for earth science students and can provide a helpful free resource for students in Geomicrobiology courses. However, portions of the book can also have value for students and professionals from any field who are interested in environmental microbiology.

Transport is among the most fundamental and widely studied phenomena in science and engineering. This subject will lay out the essential concepts and current understanding, with emphasis on the molecular view, that cut across all disciplinary boundaries. (Suitable for all students in research.)

Broad perspectives of transport phenomena
From theory and models to computations and simulations
Micro/macro coupling
Current research insights

The OpenSciEd Instructional Model uses a storyline approach– a logical sequence of lessons that are motivated by students’ questions that arise from students’ interactions with phenomena.

To help teachers and students advance through a unit storyline, the instructional model takes advantage of five routines—activities that play specific roles in advancing the storyline with structures to help students achieve the objectives of those activities. The routines typically follow a pattern as students kick off a unit of study, investigate different questions they have, put the pieces together from those investigations, and then problematize the next set of questions to investigate.

Minerals are our planet. They form the Earth and the bedrock that we live on, making up all of Earth’s rocks and sediments, and they are important components in soils. So, they literally are the foundations for our lives. Perhaps because they are ubiquitous, most people don’t even notice them or consider that all rock is made of minerals. But, engineers do because building a bridge or other structure on unstable material, or using poor ingredients for construction of all sorts, would lead to disasters. And, farmers care about minerals because healthy soils produce great crops. Petrologists who study rocks of all sorts need to know about minerals. And others who use resources in manufacturing need minerals. So, the world’s people rely on minerals. And, minerals, mineral production, and the study of minerals are absolutely essential to maintain our lifestyles.

Through three lessons and their four associated activities, students are introduced to concepts related to mixtures and solutions. Students consider how mixtures and solutions and atoms and molecules can influence new technologies developed by engineers. To begin, students explore the fundamentals of atoms and their structures. The building blocks of matter (protons, electrons, neutrons) are covered in detail. The next lesson examines the properties of elements and the periodic table one method of organization for the elements. The concepts of physical and chemical properties are also reviewed. Finally, the last lesson introduces the properties of mixtures and solutions. A comparison of different mixtures and solutions, their properties and their separation qualities are explored.

In this activity, students pose several hypotheses for what will happen if you continue heating or supplying energy to the hot and cold planet models (Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth) and then test their hypotheses using a spreadsheet based radiation balance model. The activity supports investigation of a real world challenge, experimenting with life support conditions for Mars at an Arctic outpost. The interactive model runs are conducted using a Java applet. This resource includes student worksheets, assessment questions and a teacher's guide. This is Activity B in module 2, Modeling hot and cold planets, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales.

IDS.410J Modeling and Assessment for Policy explores how scientific information and quantitative models can be used to inform policy decision-making. Students will develop an understanding of quantitative modeling techniques and their role in the policy process through case studies and interactive activities. The course addresses issues such as analysis of scientific assessment processes, uses of integrated assessment models, public perception of quantitative information, methods for dealing with uncertainties, and design choices in building policy-relevant models. Examples used in this class focus on models and information used in earth system governance.

A collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the CK-12 Foundation, this book provides high school mathematics and physics teachers with an introduction to the main principles of modeling and simulation used in science and engineering. An appendix of lesson plans is included.

This course explores the applications of physics (Newtonian, statistical, and quantum mechanics) to fundamental processes that occur in celestial objects. The list of topics includes Main-sequence Stars, Collapsed Stars (White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes), Pulsars, Supernovae, the Interstellar Medium, Galaxies, and as time permits, Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Cosmology. Observational data is also discussed.