Overview

This unit aims to provide a coherent and balanced account of energy and motion, emphasising their applications and importance in an engineering context. Students will be expected to apply all of the principles covered in this unit to generate solutions to conceptual and numerical problems in simple systems, and to understand real-world phenomena.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Pathways Teaching 3
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
20-October-2025
30-January-2026
Last self-enrolment date
02-November-2025
Census date
14-November-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
12-December-2025
Results released date
10-February-2026
Pathways Teaching 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
23-February-2026
29-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
08-March-2026
Census date
24-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
14-April-2026
Results released date
09-June-2026
Pathways Teaching 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
22-June-2026
25-September-2026
Last self-enrolment date
05-July-2026
Census date
21-July-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
11-August-2026
Results released date
06-October-2026
Pathways Teaching 3
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
19-October-2026
29-January-2027
Last self-enrolment date
01-November-2026
Census date
17-November-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
15-December-2026
Results released date
09-February-2027

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Define physical quantities needed to describe a motion with two sets of quantities, scalar and vector
  • Describe Newton’s Laws of Motion underpin both linear and rotational mechanical systems, and how analysis of systems can be approached by consideration of forces or work/energy. The relationship between Newton’s Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Momentum
  • Define the law of Conservation of Energy and its application to streamline fluid flow
  • Define the laws of Motion in the context of the Kinetic Theory of Gases and the relationship between temperature and kinetic energy of an ideal gas. Define heat, work, and internal energy stated in the First Law of Thermodynamics
  • Identify and discuss the relationship between Simple Harmonic Motion and Newton’s Second Law of Motion in relation to a spring or simple pendulum. The equation for a travelling wave and the conditions for standing waves in a stretched string
  • Work in a team of peers to carry out and write up laboratory experiments and participate in discussion

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Lecture		 2.00  12 weeks  24
On-campus
Class		 2.00  12 weeks  24
On-campus
Class		 2.00  7 weeks  14
On-campus
Practical		 2.00  5 weeks  10
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 6.50  12 weeks  78
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Examination Individual  20-40%  2,3,4,5 
Laboratory Report Individual  20-30%  2,3,4,6 
Mid-Semester Test Individual  25-35%  1,2 
Online Quiz Individual  15-25%  1,2,3,4,5 

Content

  • Linear mechanics: kinematics, Newton’s laws, momentum, energy and work
  • Rotational mechanics: circular motion 
  • Fluid mechanics: buoyancy, Pascal’s law, Bernoulli’s principle
  • Thermodynamics: heat transfer and expansion, kinetic theory
  • Vibrations and waves: simple harmonic motion, resonance and damping

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.