"Engineering," michaniki.

This is a basic guide to why we use engines, machines and lays the foundation for the equations we will deal with later, for all my science lessons.

We build machines to assist us. They help us do daily things, and, then we use them to make things happen to make our lives easier.

The first example of engineering was the plough. This was made to plough fields for the crops. Basically, the stress placed onto the plough had to be less than the stress of the plough going through the ground, so it would  have simply been down to [mass] + [reinforcement] - [resistance of mass].

Then came the steam engine. This was where we used the steam from the fire to push little pistons of the cogs to turn the wheels of the train, by turning the pistons through the axle. A step better, still simple, yes? This finds it's way into cars today, where the same thing is done with oil, as the oil burns for longer, mind you.

For building, they need to calculate stress bearing loads from the next floor or the roof. This is where they need to be supported by the walls, and, the foundation's reinforcement.

Basically, engineering is based on 'machines.' That is all you need to know for the content side of any engineering course, if you apply logic, you will know what the heck is going on with those little sums and applying them to the problem, which could make it much easier if you listen.

Author's Note

The base of any engineering course, tailored for expansion onto regular high school wood work style or shop subjects.