After completing today's reading, exercises, and the associated homework you should be able to:
Define what is meant by a truss and give the common assumptions used in truss analysis
Use the Method of Joints to calculate the forces in the members of a truss and indicate whether they are in tension or compression
Use the Method of Sections to calculate the forces in the members of a truss and indicate whether they are in tension or compression
Note: Any term in bold is a key vocabulary term that you should be able to define, regardless of whether or not that is the specific learning objective.