Strength of Materials Notes for Success: How to Get an A the Easy Way

Are you looking for the secret strength of materials notes for success that’ll, ensure that you pass this very challenging class?

If that’s you, then you are in the right place.

In this blog post, you will find everything that you need to know in order to pass strength of materials and then some as you continue on your college journey to become an engineer.

Now I have something extremely important to tell you before we begin this post:

Print this post out and keep it in a safe place for you to refer to it when you need to because it will be the foundation for the rest of your college career.

Don’t lose it!

Bookmark this page if you have to.

Now assuming that you did all of that, let’s begin the post.

Here’s the very first thing that you should do in order to pass Strength of Materials the easy way.

Become a Conceptual Thinker If You Haven’t

 

So far, you are starting to see that memorizing the material isn’t going to get you very far.

If you struggled in Statics, then that’s probably what happened.

You did not focus on the concepts when you were learning and you solely relied on Chegg for your livelihood (no pun intended).

Doing that might’ve gotten you away with a C, but riding on the Chegg train for Strength of Materials won’t fly here.

I can tell you from experience that the number 1 reason that my classmates failed to understand the subject and struggled with the homework was because they did not focus on the concepts.

If you do that, the subject will flow in your mind like water going into a glass very smoothly in a 5 star restaurant.

Let me tell you a stat from the 1^st test that me and the rest of my class had to take for this subject.

When we got back the 1^st test, the professor wrote on the board the distribution of scores for the entire class and the percentage of people who got those scores.

Do you want to know how many people failed?

It’ll shock you so get ready for it.

42%.

That’s right.

You almost have a 1 in 2 shot of failing the first test.

That’s pretty high if you ask me.

Now not as bad as Dynamics where the class average can be 20-30% overall, but still very considerable numbers.

I can say for a fact that everyone who failed memorized.

It’s as simple as that.

But everyone who passed placed focus on concepts.

That’s also as simple as that.

Now how do you learn to focus on concepts?

Just simply watch one of this man’s videos right here.

Simply put, this man will change the way that you think very quickly and you will enjoy every minute of it.

And if you watched Professor Leonard for your math classes, you already know what I mean.

Do that if you haven’t.

Your future self will thank you for it.

So your chance of failing drops drastically if you focus on the concepts and if you do all of the homework.

By the way, ALL OF THE HOMEWORK.

Not part of it, not 99% of it, ALL OF IT!

So do your homework.

I don’t care if you have to skip applying for that internship.

That won’t mean anything if you can’t pass.

And that’s also the reason why you don’t take out loans for college because you don’t know what the hell can happen.

On a side note from this post, if you do have student loans, then you might want to read this blog post right now to get out of it.

And if you still didn’t get the point, watch this and watch this.

And read this if you aren’t convinced.

Now get to work on that by focusing on how to pass this class.

So here’s what you do:

Do all of the homework and also do this:

Pick a Professor Who Isn’t a Jerk

 

This one is extremely obvious but heavily overlooked.

If your professor is extremely bad or extremely rude, you should do everything that you can to avoid that professor.

Why?

Because that professor will give you more trouble for what you are working for.

So it’s so obvious.

If you have another option, take another professor for the class.

Of course, if you have to deal with that professor, then you have to deal with them and that’s that.

But if they are so bad and you have another option, then take the other option.

Now, what if you have to wait another semester to take the class?

Then the decision is very straightforward there:

Wait another semester to take the class.

You don’t want to risk money and a possible failing grade on your transcript.

Talk to your advisor and see if you can take another class instead.

And if you aren’t sure about your professor’s quality, then check your school’s perception of teaching survey or look on Rate my Professors right here and double check before signing up.

Now assuming that you have the conceptual understanding process nailed down and you have at least a decent professor who is fair, then here’s you magic 3 step process for acing Strength of Materials.

Here’s the Magic 3 Step Process for Acing Strength of Materials

 

Step 1: Read your textbook

This is conditional if you have the Hibbeler book because his books tend to have the clearest explanations for any engineering subject that he writes about.

All of the other textbooks are not really as thorough as his.

So if you don’t have the Hibbeler book, you can go onto step 2.

If you do have the Hibbeler book as your book, then I suggest that you read the corresponding sections that you need to read first before doing anything else in order to get a strong foundational understanding of the material.

Doing this will allow you to come to class extremely prepared to discuss the material with the professor and control the lecture instead of letting it control you.

You’ll be able to clarify your weak points and most importantly, you’ll be able to understand WHY they need to be clarified with exact specific questions that’ll gear to what YOU need to know.

This will ensure that you pass the class, guaranteed.

You are 10X able to do your homework as a result of this and you can free up a lot of time later on to pursue other activities like internship hunting and extracurriculars that college should solely be, in my opinion.

Read this for more insight.

On a side note, don’t you think that academics is actually one of the most time wasting activities in college compared to other stuff like extracurriculars that can be used to enhance your résumé?

Yes, they are required and that’s why it’s first, but useless junk?

Really?

Thumbs up down below in the comments if you agree and if this is your reaction to academics:

 

Now moving on with Strength of Materials 🙂

So after you read your book, you should do the next step, which is

Step 2: Watch Dr. Jeff Hanson’s Solids Series on YouTube

Please note: Solids is the same as Strength of Materials; different universities call the class different names, but it’s the same content.

Dr. Hanson’s series is the most in-depth and comprehensive video series on the subject.

If you don’t have the Hibbeler book, this series is the perfect substitute for your textbook because it’s rich, it’s straightforward, and it’ll give you what you need to know in order to successfully complete your homework and succeed on the tests.

Dr. Hanson will give you the step by step methods for solving any kind of Strength of Materials problem that you can think of.

Watching his series without skipping is a surefire way to pass Strength of Materials and to prevent failure.

You might have watched his Statics series while taking Statics, but his Solids series is WAY better.

Unlike his Statics series, he’ll actually give you what you need to know to solve the hard problems in the class without having to guess on a homework problem what to do.

Chances are, this was the case in Statics.

The fact that he’ll give you what you need to know for the hard problems is a deal maker to watch his series.

In fact, you might not even need to buy the book for the class.

You can just watch the series and get the homework problems from a classmate.

You can access Dr. Hanson’s series here.

And now for one of the most important steps yet in any class:

Step 3: Utilize your professor in their office hours if you have ANY doubts

This is critical if you chose a good professor because you are getting immediate access to a master of the material.

You do not know how valuable this is until you try it.

A good professor, in my book, is the most qualified person to explain the material to you since you can be rest assured that there won’t be any mistakes and the knowledge that they have is grounded in concepts, not in memorization.

So when they explain their reasoning for why an answer is such or why the work must be executed a certain way, you’ll know that is the reason why and no other.

It gives you clarity.

In addition, if you are consistent in showing up for office hours, you will have the chance to develop a relationship with the professor and that can lend itself to A LOT of benefits for you like professional connections, internships, recommendations, etc.

So you might as well use them while you are at it.

Don’t get it while it’s cold.

Get it while it’s hot.

And that is the magic 3 step process for passing and acing Strength of Materials.

But there’s more.

If you want to know more, then keep on reading because these goodies will ensure you’re A!

Tips and Tricks for Acing Strength of Materials

 

Tip 1: The powerful study buddy

This is basically a classmate that you trust that can explain the material to you when you are in doubt.

Believe me, they will do this because the best way for them to assess that they know the material is if they successfully teach others the material.

And they want to see you do well as well, so it’s a win-win proposition that you should take up if you need to do this.

Tip 2: Do the homework over and over again

This one is a nightmare for some people, but for a lot of people, this is a blessing in disguise because this will help your mind remember what you are doing without forgetting it.

And yes, this means doing every single problem again from head to toe with every step perfect.

Because one misstep and that’s 20 points off of your test.

Do you know the saying “Repetition is the mother of all learning?”

That’s the saying of my internet mentor Grant Cardone who says that repeating every step will make you perfect and close the sale.

One misstep and you can’t eat.

Granted, this isn’t sales, but the idea is the same.

If you aren’t eventually perfect, you will fail.

100% of the time.

And this is coming from someone who is the best at his craft, in this case being sales.

Of course, you don’t have to start perfect, but you will have to keep working at it UNTIL it’s perfect.

This isn’t perfectionism; it’s mastery.

BIG difference.

And once you understand that, you WILL get A’s in all of your classes (or at least 90% of them).

Guaranteed.

And of course, there is yet another underutilized tip here that will really get you ahead academically (and maybe career wise) if you get this right:

Tip 3: Utilize the best tutor that the university offers (at the Academic Success Center)

This is a secret weapon if the tutor is great.

Many students across many different classes have testified that when they use these tutors (not the independent ones that rip you off), their grades skyrocket and they understand the material extremely well, more so than they would in a normal class setting.

And the best thing is that these tutors are included in your tuition and you can schedule your time with them extremely conveniently at a set schedule that will be enforced.

That’s a pretty neat deal if you ask me.

Imagine getting a tutor paid for already versus potentially $40 extra dollars per hour for a tutor who chances are is really there to try to take your money.

That’s something to really consider.

So think about that in the many resources at your disposal in college (assuming you are not going into debt for it).

And as a bonus tip,

Tip 4: Read this.

You’ll thank me later.

There You Go

 

And that’s it. That is the secret to passing and getting an A in Strength of Materials.

Keep this post wherever you go throughout the semester so that you can refer to it when need be.

If you do have any questions about this post, please leave them below in the comments section and I will be more than happy to help you out.

And also if you got the results that you desired to get out of this post, please email me at evan@jointheisland.com with the results. That would be greatly appreciated.

And if you enjoyed this post and you want to see more mind blowing posts sent straight into your inbox, go to the bottom of this webpage and write your email into the box to subscribe to Join the Island, the world’s greatest blog!

Happy studying!

Until next time,

This is Chief Islander Evan signing off.

PS: When you get to Dynamics, or if you or some of your friends are in Dynamics now, read this. You’ll thank me later!