Spring 2027

Statics

Statics covering principles of mechanics, force systems, equilibrium, structures, distributed forces, moments of inertia of areas, and friction.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Jennifer Detlor3.9/5Emma Lenz

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jennifer Detlor, Jacob Notbohm

Homework assignments could take a long time to complete, particularly on days with concepts not discussed in class. The course is often described as a weed-out class where students must be ready to struggle.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Interpret a given engineering schematic in the context of equilibrium

  • Determine the need for free body diagram(s) or appropriate sketch(es)

  • Draw the free body diagram(s) with appropriate annotations

  • Generate the governing equations informed by the free body diagram(s)

  • Solve the governing equations

  • Critically review results to ensure answers are realistic

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(MATH 222 or concurrent enrollment) or member of Engineering Guest Students

EMA 201 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Jennifer Detlor

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.14/5 from 22 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.3/5 raw quality · 3.5/5 difficulty · 6 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

No course-specific feedback yet.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JENNIFER DETLOR is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LAURIE RILEY is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT WITT is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2017, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SUZANNAH SANDRIK is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Fall 2013, Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 2580
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 2580
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
LEC 003Classroom Instruction0 / 2580
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 500
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 500
LEC 004Classroom Instruction0 / 2580
DIS 309Classroom Instruction0 / 500
DIS 310Classroom Instruction0 / 500

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Jennifer Detlor

Past students described the course as straightforward and perfectly alright, with thorough concept explanations. Some found the teaching style generic compared to other instructors, but overall it provided a solid foundation.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.26 GPA, 59.0% A/AB (n=546 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.02 GPA, 47.7% A/AB (n=321 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.02 GPA, 44.1% A/AB (n=701 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jennifer Detlor, Jacob Notbohm

Homework assignments could take a long time to complete, particularly on days with concepts not discussed in class. The course is often described as a weed-out class where students must be ready to struggle.

Past student reviews · Jennifer Detlor

Individual help was very helpful for solving problems, though TAs were less useful. One student noted the instructor was not super accommodating of emergencies, while another emphasized her clear care for student success.

Topics

  • Force systems, equilibrium, and structures
  • Distributed forces and moments of inertia of areas
  • Friction in mechanical systems

Skills

  • Drawing free body diagrams with appropriate annotations
  • Solving governing equations for mechanical equilibrium
  • Analyzing force systems, equilibrium, structures, and friction

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.18 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
EMA 201 · Spring 2027

Statics

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:346:006573",
    "course_id": "EMA 201",
    "course_uid": "course_8a23700ba1d36181a2e171b1",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "006573",
    "source_subject_id": "346",
    "title": "Statics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "21489abfaaa4afdc0904c085a5a57ec427274b5dd9d94a710c3b769f681ace18",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}