The prerequisite is Hydrodynamics II , replaced by Mathematics for Geophysical Science II for ENV students, which ensures a little prior knowledge of linear elasticity.
Continuum mechanics underpins all theoretical work in both solid and fluid mechanics.
It concerns the deformation and motion of a continuous body, the balance laws and the formulation of constitutive equations, which distinguish one sort of material from another. These general ideas are applied in particular to nonlinear elasticity. Example sheets are handed out containing many examples to support and illustrate the lecture material. Some are set as coursework and detailed solutions to most exercises are handed out. Continuum mechanics is the mechanics of continuous materials, i.e. materials which occupy every point of a continuous region of space.