Gain insights into using Python for mechanical and aerospace engineering. Learn about basics, graphing techniques, airfoil plotting, and dynamic pressure and orbital modeling in 2D and 3D.

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In this course, you will learn about the Python programming language in the context of mechanical and aerospace engineering. 

You will start with the basics of Python, like variables, collections, and different types of loops. Once you have the basics out of the way, the real fun begins. You will learn how to: graph thrust available and thrust required, graph dynamic pressure during a rocket launch, and how to plot airfoil coordinates. 

Towards the end, you will get a strong overview of orbital parameters and learn how to model both 2D and 3D static orbits. Once you’ve completed this course, you will have a better understanding of Python and how it works in the context of mechanical/aerospace engineering.

Python for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

You need to use the **Requests** and **Matplotlib** libraries:

```python
import requests
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
```

# Organizing the program

First, you will define a `get_airfoil_coordinates()` function that will: 
* accept an airfoil name as an argument
* scrape the UIUC website
* get the results and clean the data
* return the x coordinates, the y coordinates, and the airfoil name as elements of a tuple

To build this function, you will use the NACA 2412 airfoil to ensure that the program works.

# Understanding airfoil coordinates

The URL of each airfoil’s coordinates in the UIUC airfoil database follows the same format: `https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/coord/{airfoil_name}.dat`. Each time you query the database, you will replace `{airfoil_name}` with the airfoil argument in the function. The NACA 2412 file is formatted as follows:

```text
NACA 2412
1.0000     0.0013
0.9500     0.0114
0.9000     0.0208
......
0.9500     -0.0048
1.0000     -0.0013
```

Interestingly, it is not a CSV file; rather, it is a raw text (txt) file. The first line of the file is the airfoil name, and the subsequent lines are normalized coordinates in the x and y direction, respectively. The URL also returns a **Not Found** page if any of the airfoil letters are uppercase. You will need to make sure any URL query uses airfoils with all lowercase letters.

Next, to figure out what character was separating the two coordinates, you can copy the first line of coordinates and try to see what characters would properly split the `str`. The tab character is represented as `\t` in Python; similarly, the new line character (otherwise known as hitting Enter or Return) is represented as `\n`.



Getting Comfortable with Python

FizzBuzz

Graphing Thrust Available and Thrust Required

Graphing Dynamic Pressure During a Rocket Launch

Getting and Plotting Airfoil Coordinates

Modeling a 2-Body Orbit in 2D and 3D

Unit Conversions

Introduction to Web Scraping

Modeling Camera Shutter Effect

Writing Reports with Pweave

The End

Getting Airfoil Coordinates

Organizing the program

Understanding airfoil coordinates