Rigid Body Dynamics (Coursera)

Rigid Body Dynamics (Coursera)

This course teaches dynamics, one of the basic mechanics subjects of Mechanical Engineering. Students would be able to organize their knowledge about force and motion, work-energy, impulse-momentum in view of Newton's 2nd law and its integration over time and displacement. The Engineering Dynamics consists of two parts: particle dynamics and rigid body dynamics. This is the second part of the dynamics: rigid body dynamics.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The class will consist of lecture videos, which are about 15 min length (or a bit longer). These contain a couple of practice problem solving. There will also be standalone homeworks that are not part of video lectures, and a final exam.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Lecture Note
Before you start the Lecture, please download this lecture note. Each chapter has two version of lecture note. One is student version that has blanks, the Other is filled version.

WEEK 2
1-1 Week
Introduction to Rigid Body Kinematics, Absolute and Relative Kinematics

WEEK 3
1-2 Week
Relative Velocity & Acceleration

WEEK 4
2-1 Week
Motion Relative to Rotating Axis

WEEK 5
2-2 Week
Fundamentals of Kinematics of rigid body

WEEK 6
3-1 Week
General plane motion of rigid body

WEEK 7
3-2 Week
Work and energy of rigid body

WEEK 8
4-1 Week
Work and energy of rigid body

WEEK 9
4-2 Week
Impulse and momentum of rigid body

WEEK 10
5-1 Week
Impulse and momentum of rigid body

WEEK 11
5-2 Week
3D Kinematics of rigid body

WEEK 12
6-1 Week
3D Kinematics of rigid body

WEEK 13
6-2 Week
3D Kinetics of rigid body

WEEK 14
7-1 Week
3D Kinetics of rigid body

WEEK 15
7-2 Week
Gyroscopic motion

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Materials Science: 10 Things Every Engineer Should Know (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Davis

Materials Science: 10 Things Every Engineer Should Know (Coursera)

We explore “10 things” that range from the menu of materials available to engineers in their profession to the many mechanical and electrical properties of materials important to their use in various engineering fields. We also discuss the principles behind the manufacturing of those materials. By the end of the course, you will be able to: recognize the important aspects of the materials used in modern engineering applications; explain the underlying principle of materials science: “structure leads to properties,”; identify the role of thermally activated processes in many of these important “things” – as illustrated by the Arrhenius relationship; relate each of these topics to issues that have arisen (or potentially could arise) in your life and work.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Advanced Engineering Systems in Motion: Dynamics of Three Dimensional (3D) Motion (Coursera) Coursera
Georgia Institute of Technology

Advanced Engineering Systems in Motion: Dynamics of Three Dimensional (3D) Motion (Coursera)

This course is an advanced study of bodies in motion as applied to engineering systems and structures. We will study the dynamics of rigid bodies in 3D motion. This will consist of both the kinematics and kinetics of motion. Kinematics deals with the geometrical aspects of motion describing position, velocity, and acceleration, all as a function of time. Kinetics is the study of forces acting on these bodies and how it affects their motion.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Modern Robotics, Course 6: Capstone Project, Mobile Manipulation (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Modern Robotics, Course 6: Capstone Project, Mobile Manipulation (Coursera)

The capstone project of the Modern Robotics specialization is on mobile manipulation: simultaneously controlling the motion of a wheeled mobile base and its robot arm to achieve a manipulation task. This project integrates several topics from the specialization, including trajectory planning, odometry for mobile robots, and feedback control. Beginning from the Modern Robotics software library provided to you (written in Python, Mathematica, and MATLAB), and software you have written for previous courses, you will develop software to plan and control the motion of a mobile manipulator to perform a pick and place task.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Material Behavior (Coursera) Coursera
Georgia Institute of Technology

Material Behavior (Coursera)

Have you ever wondered why ceramics are hard and brittle while metals tend to be ductile? Why some materials conduct heat or electricity while others are insulators? Why adding just a small amount of carbon to iron results in an alloy that is so much stronger than the base metal? In this course, you will learn how a material’s properties are determined by the microstructure of the material, which is in turn determined by composition and the processing that the material has undergone.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (Coursera) Coursera
University at Buffalo,The State University of New York

Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (Coursera)

Enterprises that seek to become proficient in advanced manufacturing must incorporate manufacturing management tools and integrate data throughout the supply chain to be successful. This course will make students aware of what a digitally connected enterprise is, as they learn about the operational complexity of enterprises, business process optimization and the concept of an integrated product-process-value chain.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Física: Vectores, Trabajo y Energía (Coursera) Coursera
Tecnológico de Monterrey

Física: Vectores, Trabajo y Energía (Coursera)

Este curso provee al estudiante con conceptos y herramientas matemáticas para modelar problemas en física, que al aplicar podrá enfrentar con éxito los cursos de física universitarios. Así pues, la filosofía de este curso consiste en cubrir temas conceptuales relativos a la Física y desarrollar tu capacidad de aprender y aplicarlos en tu vida profesional.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Kinematics: Describing the Motions of Spacecraft (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

Kinematics: Describing the Motions of Spacecraft (Coursera)

The movement of bodies in space (like spacecraft, satellites, and space stations) must be predicted and controlled with precision in order to ensure safety and efficacy. Kinematics is a field that develops descriptions and predictions of the motion of these bodies in 3D space. This course in Kinematics covers four major topic areas: an introduction to particle kinematics, a deep dive into rigid body kinematics in two parts (starting with classic descriptions of motion using the directional cosine matrix and Euler angles, and concluding with a review of modern descriptors like quaternions and Classical and Modified Rodrigues parameters).

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Fundamentals of Fluid Power (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Fundamentals of Fluid Power (Coursera)

In this course, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles and analytical modeling of fluid power components, circuits, and systems. You will learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power compared with other power transmission technologies; the operation, use, and symbols of common hydraulic components; how to formulate and analyze models of hydraulic components and circuits; and how to design and predict the performance of fluid power circuits.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of waves and vibrations (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique

Fundamentals of waves and vibrations (Coursera)

Waves are everywhere. On water of course, but also in the air as you hear a plane, and under your feet during an earthquake certainly. Vibrations, too, are everywhere In your bike as you go over a bump, in you guitar as you play, and of course in your smartphone. You can guess that there is something in common behind all this. This is exactly the purpose of this course !

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks