Engineering

Problem
Solving
P R E S E N TAT I O N 1 0 . 1
C H AP T E R S 5 A N D 6 F R O M T H I N K I N G L I K E A N
ENGINEER

Learning Objectives
Problem presentation process
Identify the major steps of problem presentation method
Use problem presentation steps to document a simple
estimation problem
Use Excel or Matlab to solve an engineering problem

Team Exercise
A pilot flying her plane is coming in for a landing. As she
flies over a local park she cuts her engine to glide in to an
airfield that is 4.2 km from the park. On her decent she
barely clears a 300 m building by 10 m according to
workman standing on top of the building. The
administration at the airfield could see this near hit of the
building from 3 km away and said she was flying too low
when she cut the engine. They said she needed to be
above 500 m. when she killed her engine. Is she in
violation? How would you demonstrate it?

Problem Presentation
Could someone use your paper to describe what you did,
what assumptions were made and if you validated your
solution?

SOLVEM
One characteristic of engineers is their ability to present
information with great clarity in a neat, careful manner.

Sketch Use a drawing to help you understand the problem

Observations, Objectives Simple statements or questions
that help you understand the problem

List Variables and Equations of variables, constants, and

equations which will be used to solve the problem

Manipulation The actual manipulation of the variables,

constants, and equation to arrive at a solution. The solution,
at this point, should still be an equation which get the final
answer by direct substitution with the given information

Estimations and Exact

Solutions
This general process can be applied to estimations as well
as to those problems where you need an exact solution
It focuses more on the process of HOW you obtain a
solution, rather than what the numerical solution is
If something changes in the basic assumptions (maybe
you get better information as the project progresses)
updating your numerical answer is not difficult.

Estimations and
Approximations

Learning Objectives
Estimation methods
Generate qualitative model of system indicating
interaction between influential factors
Generate quantitative models to estimate characteristics
of a context or performance of a system
Define 5 methods for generating potential estimations

It would appear, Hopkins, that your gut feel was only indigestion.

Approximations &
Estimations
As a general rule, engineers strive for a high level of
precision, as well as accuracy in their work.
The accuracy and precision of the estimation is generally
a function of:
Your understanding of the problem.
Your previous experience.
Context of the decision to be made with the model.
Sizing a part to integrate with another component
Approximate difference between two systems (alternatives).

The cost to obtain the solution.

Time available to obtain a solution.
Cost to obtain data

Initial part of
Engineering Problem
Presentation
Identify the problem (situational)
Identify givens
Formulate a Model
Make assumptions
Find sources
Evaluate potential impact of estimation on the accuracy and
precision of an answer

Team Exercise 10.1.1

Mice have a harder time keeping warm compared to elephants.
Why?

How can we explain it mathematically?

Estimating factors related to metabolic rate of

animals
Option 1 Approximate Spheres

http://www.botswanasafari.info/botswana-tours_abu-elephant-backsafari.html

Surface area to Volume ratio

Sphere

S 4 r 2 3

V 4 r3 r
3

Rough Estimations
Option 1 Approximate Spheres
Surface area to Volume ratio
Sphere
S = 4r2
V= 4/3 r3

Source: http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/restaurantinspection/

Selephant
Velephant

3
relephant

<

S 4 r 2 3

V 4 r3 r
3
S mouse
3

Vmouse rmouse

Estimating factors
related to metabolic
rate of animals
Option 1 Approximate Spheres

Selephant

Velephant
Height

man

relephant

<

= 69.2 inches
= 175.8 cm

Source:
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/growthcharts2/f/avg_ht_male.htm

Height

male elephant

= 3.2 meters = 320 cm

S mouse
3

Vmouse rmouse
Lengthmouse= 3.9in
= 9.9 cm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Mouse#cite_not
e-lyneborg-2
Lyneborg L (1971). Mammals of Europe. Blandford
Press.

http://sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-elephant.html

elephant

Selephant
Velephant

150 cm

3
relephant

0.02 cm-1

mouse

10 cm

S mouse
3
= 0.30 cm-1

Vmouse rmouse

What are other options for simplifying the geometry?

http://www.botswanasafari.info/botswana-tours_abu-elephant-backsafari.html

Selephant
Velephant

Source: http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/restaurant-

3
relephant

<

S mouse
3

Vmouse rmouse

Approximations &
Estimations
Five different approaches to estimations:
Analogy compare to something you know
Aggregation look at a single instance and scale up (or down)
Place limits on answers Consider limiting cases and bracket
the answer
Use Models This can be simple of complex, and really most
engineering work falls in this category. A simple model can
be like the mouse/elephant problem.

For the following

exercises
How do we learn to make good estimations?
Think (first individually, then as a team) about how you
would approach each of the following exercises?
What are the critical elements to be defined?
What information do we need? What is the range of accuracy
for this information?
How will we combine this information to synthesize a
solution?
What will we accept as reasonable?

Individually, then Team Exercise 10.1.2

Problem Statement: Estimate the volume of an averagesized man. (can you think of two methods?)

Method 1 Simple
geometry

Method 2 analogy

Target domain that

I dont know about

Facts linking the two

domains form an
assumption about their
similarity

Base domain that I do

know something
about.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3099454/British-drinking-water-may-be-tainted-with-prescription-drugs.

Exercise 10.1.3
Approach 2 Use
Analogies
Problem Statement: Estimate the volume of an averagesized man.
Solution 1: Simplify the geometry
Solution 2: Use an analogy - Assume the density of a man
is 0.95 that of water. (People are mostly water, but they
do float slightly when swimming, so the density must be
slightly less than water.)

Pillow Packing
Problem Statement: How many bed pillows can fit in the
back of a tractor trailer?

Pillow Packing
Problem Statement: How many bed pillows can fit in the
back of a tractor trailer?

How much can I divide up the volume of the truck by the volume of the pillows?

Pillow Packing
Problem Statement: How many bed pillows can fit in the back of a
tractor trailer?

Solution: One pillow measures 3 in thick by 16 in wide by 21 in long.

The cargo bed of a tractor trailer measures roughly 8 ft wide by 10 ft
tall by 35 ft long.

Neglect compression of stacked pillow - count and packing materials

- count

18 Wheeler
Problem Statement: Estimate the mass of an empty
tractor trailer.

18 Wheeler
Problem Statement: Estimate the mass of an empty
tractor trailer.

Solution: It seems reasonable that the tractor trailer mass

should be more than five automobiles, but less than 30
automobiles.
Lower bound = 5 x 3000 lbm = 15,000 lbm
Upper bound = 30 x 3000 lbm = 90,000 lbm

Because automobiles typically have a mass between

2000 and 4000 lbm an average value of 3000 lbm was
used. The estimated mass of the tractor trailer is
reasonable; an Internet search revealed that heavy trucks
weigh about 42 tons (84,000 lbm)

Fuel Usage
Problem Statement: How much fuel is burned by TAMU
students for all the Thanksgiving visits home?
Dallas

Beaumont
San Antonio

Houston

What other questions do we need to consider in this problem?

Fuel Usage
Problem Statement: How much fuel is burned by TAMU
students for all the Thanksgiving visits home?
Solution: A survey of 20 random students reveals that 6
come from Houston(90 miles away), 4 from San Antonio
(200 miles), 3 from Dallas(100 miles), 2 from Beaumont
(190 miles), and 5 live too far to return home for
Thanksgiving. Assume that the average car has 1.5
occupants (half have two occupants and half have one
Totalismiles
occupant). The student population
50,000 students
Fuel used = ------------------------------Average fuel
Total economy
miles = Houston+ San Antonio+ Dallas+

For each city =Beaumont

# of trips x Average car capacity x % of total Population x
distance

Summary:
Approximations &
Estimations
Five different approaches to estimations:
Simplify the model representing the system of interest e.g.
geometry, major factors governing the behavior (Project 2).
Strategy we use to determine the surface to volume ratio.
Use analogies (the characteristics of an unknown system
my be similar to characteristics of a known system)
Scale up from one to many (Smaller components of the
system can be defined, then added together to form a larger
whole)
Place limits on answers (find the bounded solution
concentrate on a specific operating range)
Extrapolate from samples work from case study (assume it
is a representative sample)

Team Exercise
ANALYSIS OF A GOLF BALL

Project Background
A Golf ball manufacturing company, Golf Ball Inc. (GBI),
has plans to approach the USGA and the LPGA and
propose that the ladies be allowed to use a modified golf
ball to even the field, thus allowing head to head
competitions.

Basic problem
GBI has contracted your engineering team
to do the analysis of their new ball.
You devise a simple device using a video
camera, a strobe light and a vertical
launcher to measure the position of the
ball as it travels up and down again.
These data are shown (in excerpt) on the
next slide and given in the data file
GolfBall.txt and shows the position of the
ball above the ground in meters.

Basic Data (excerpt)

Time (s) Position (m)
0
0
0.1
4.27
0.2
7.42
0.3
9.94
0.4
12.01
0.5
13.75
0.6
15.23
0.7
16.49
0.8
17.58
0.9
18.5
1
19.28

Team Task
Your team must produce an analysis that will be
submitted to GBI.
As a minimum the analysis must include the items on the
task list along with any supporting calculations, data,
theory, etc.

Background data
Assume a golfer can strike the ball such that it has an
initial speed of 225 ft/sec
The mass of the golf ball used is 45 g
Gravity is 32.174 ft/s^2
All analyses are to assume level round, so the initial
launch of the golf ball is at ground level

First Approximation
Ignore all atmospheric effects.
What is the range (airborne distance until the ball hits the
ground) for each case?
Use the SOLVEM process to solve and then use your
solution to produce the following plots.
Plot the trajectory of the ball if launched at the following
angles from the horizontal: 25, 35, 45, 55, and 65.

Atmospheric
Drag
DRAG AND NUMERICAL METHODS

Concept of Drag

Drag
is the retarding force exerted on a moving body in a
fluid medium
It does not attempt to turn the object, simply to slow it
down
It is a function of the speed of the body, the size (and
shape) of the body, and the fluid through which it is moving
The force of drag is linearly related to the square of the
velocity, thus
Where k is the combined drag coefficient, accounting for air
density, shape, and all other parameters

Dropping a Ping Pong

Ball
If you dropped a ping pong ball down a stairwell (height
50 feet), and the stairwell had a vacuum in it, how long
would it take for the ping pong ball to hit the floor?
If you left the air in the stairwell would it take longer,
shorter, or the same time to hit the bottom?

Looking at the ball in

detail
Drawing a Free Body
Diagram (FBD) of the ball
is shown to the right
Since all the drag force is
doing is slowing the ball
down, it is directly
vertical and upwards

FD=f(v)

FG=mg

Numerical Analysis
If you have two data points (time, position), then you can
approximate the velocity of the body.
Given the points (2 s, -15m) and (2.1 s, -17m), what is the
approximate velocity at 2.1 seconds?
If the next data point is (2.2 s, -19.05m), what is the
velocity at 2.2 seconds?
This is called Back Differencing, you can also
approximate using Forward Differencing or Central
Differencing.

Solution

15m 17 m
m
V [@ 2.1]
20
(2 s 2.1s )

17 m 19.05m
m
V [@ 2.2]
20.5
(2.1s 2.2 s )

Now Find Acceleration

Given the velocities at 2.1s and 2.2s, what is the
acceleration at 2.2s?
Data points are (time, velocity):
(2.1s, -20 m/s)
(2.2s, -20.5 m/s)

Acceleration Solution

A[@ 2.2]

m
m
20 20.5
s
s
m
5 2
2.1s 2.2 s
s

Continuing the process

The ultimate goal of this numerical analysis is to find the
drag force on the body
Now that we have the acceleration, we can find the total
force acting on the body (F=ma), the force of gravity
(Fg=mg), and Drag Force (FD=kv2)

F=Fg+FD
ma=mg+kv2
Having found the velocity and acceleration for various
times, you can find an reasonable approximation for k

Including Drag
in Your
Analysis
EXPLICIT TASK LIST

What is the effect of

drag?
Drag imparts a force on the golf ball that is in the
direction opposite its velocity.
When the ball is rising during the initial half of the flight,
the force will be backward and down, during the second
half, when the ball has peaked and is now descending the
force will be upward and backward.
Once the total drag force is found, it can be decomposed
into horizontal and vertical components, based on the
flight angle.
Gravity always acts downward, and is constant based on
the mass of the golf ball.
Once you find the total force in the horizontal and vertical
directions, you can find the acceleration in each direction
from Newtons law.

Going from Acceleration

to Velocity and to
Position
If you assume the acceleration to be a constant over a
small time interval, the velocity at the end of the time
interval can be found from:
Vend=Vstart+a*t
In both the horizontal and vertical directions
For the position, you can either assume the velocity is
constant over the interval, or assume the initial velocity
and constant acceleration
Xend=Xstart+Vx*t+0.5ax*t^2 or Xend=Xstart+Vx*t

Task List
1. Produce three graphs: position, velocity, and drag
force vs. time for the data obtained on the vertical
launch.
2. Given that the actual value of n is 2, estimate the
appropriate value for k. (Hint: plot Drag Force versus
v*abs(v))
3. Using numerical methods, determine the trajectory of
the golf ball when it is launched with an initial speed of
225 ft/s and an initial angle of 45 degrees. Produce a
graph of the position in X vs. Y coordinates.
4. For the given velocity (225 feet per second), what
initial angle will produce the maximum range (distance
down range while airborne)? What is the maximum
range?

(Bonus Task List)

5. When a ball is traveling through air and
rotating, there is a force created by the flow of
the air around the sphere that is perpendicular to
the direction of travel. This force is called the
Magnus force. Top spin tends to make the ball
dip and backspin makes it carry. This force is
related to the rate of spin and the velocity of the
ball. It is this force that allows a baseball to
curve. The lift force for a golf ball has the same
form as drag, but operates perpendicular to the
velocity vector. Add this parameter to your
solutions and repeat steps 3 and 4 for various
angles to account for lift if the ball is hit with
backspin spin resulting in a Magnus parameter of
-6

Golf Ball Range