Footnote:
Part of: Synthesis digital library of engineering and computer science. - Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-194). - Compendex. INSPEC. Google scholar. Google book search. - Title from PDF title page (viewed on February 22, 2015)
1. If you push it, it will flow -- 1.1 The effort-flow analogy -- 1.1.1 System elements -- 1.1.2 The energy balance principle --
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader
Description:
In teaching an introduction to transport or systems dynamics modeling at the undergraduate level, it is possible to lose pedagogical traction in a sea of abstract mathematics. What the mathematical modeling of time-dependent system behavior offers is a venue in which students can be taught that physical analogies exist between what they likely perceive as distinct areas of study in the physical sciences. We introduce a storyline whose characters are superheroes that store and dissipate energy in dynamic systems. Introducing students to the overarching conservation laws helps develop the analogy that ties the different disciplines together under a common umbrella of system energy. In this book, we use the superhero cast to present the effort-flow analogy and its relationship to the conservation principles of mass, momentum, energy, and electrical charge. We use a superhero movie script common to mechanical, electrical, fluid, and thermal engineering systems to illustrate how to apply the analogy to arrive at governing differential equations describing the systems' behavior in time. Ultimately, we show how only two types of differential equation, and therefore, two types of system response are possible. This novel approach of storytelling and a movie script is used to help make the mathematics of lumped system modeling more approachable for students