Moodle - Phys 310 site
Physics 310 / Chemistry 310
Thermodynamics
Syllabus, Fall 2016
We meet at:
- 9:00-9:50 am, MWF in SC 006 (with Paul Meyer Reimer)
- 12:30-3:20 pm${}^*$, Thursdays in SC 302 (with Dan Smith)
${}^*$ There is a conflict with the Multivariate Calculus Lab time for some folks.
On the web
You can find the syllabus and other materials related to
this course on the web at:
or
Grades will be available on moodle.goshen.edu.
We use your "goshen.edu" e-mail address for class communications. Some of you may use other e-mail services. If you do use some other service, make sure your goshen.edu e-mail account is set up to forward e-mail to the account you read most often. (Zimbra: Preferences > Mail)
Instructors
Paul Meyer Reimer - no fixed office hours, but consult my class schedule for a good time to drop by.
Sci 011 · x7318 · e-mail: paulmr@goshen.edu
Paul will leave in early December to lead the Spring SST unit in Tanzania. So, the last day of lecture will be December 2!
Shift in 2016: The lecture portion will be more compressed. Relative to other physics courses you have had with me, I will make a concerted effort to move a greater fraction of the introduction of new material outside of class time (routine readings, reading questions and preparation exercises). This will allow us to do exercises in class to solidify (rather than introduce) core concepts, and concentrate on the "muddy points" of thermodynamics which you will help to identify!
Sci 316 · x7315 · e-mail: danas@goshen.edu
Overview
A study of classical thermodynamics in the formulation of Gibbs. Thermodynamic potentials, characteristic variables, stability, homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, chemical kinetics are treated. An introduction to statistical mechanics is presented. Applications include studies of material properties and engineering systems.
Prerequisites: Phys 203-204 (General Physics); Chem 111-112 (General Chemistry); Math 212 (Calculus II)
Texts and Tools
Required
- Ashley Carter, Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics. [GC Bookstore homepage] [Amazon] [Barnes&Noble] Prentice Hall, 2001.
- Safety Goggles
- A GC lab notebook
- Mathematica: Available on all GC ITS-managed computers. (Includes SC 008, Math reading room, Physics reading room, Any GC computer in the Good Library...)
Recommended but not required
- Carl
W. Garland, et. al., Experiments in Physical Chemistry. [GC
Bookstore homepage]
[Amazon]
[Cafescribe] 8th edition, 2008.
You will carry out 2 experiments from this textbook, which will be on reserve in the library. This is the same book which is used in the Chemistry Department's Quantum Mechanics (Chem 312) course. So if you are planning to take that course, you may as well buy the textbook now. But non-Chem physics majors who are not taking Chem 312 can use the on-reserve copy. - Wolfram Alpha app for your iPad (Free through the GC App store).
Grading
homework / class activities / participation |
18% |
problem writeup + heatpump | 7% |
1 midterm exam | 20% |
laboratory | 25% |
final exam & ACS thermodynamics exam |
30% |
minimum grade outcomes:
- A/A- 93%/90
- "I worked together with Joe Cool and Jill GC on this problem."
- "I consulted a web page at [insert URL] about this one."
- Your results on the ACS exam will be scaled so that a 50% on the ACS exam will count as an average grade in our class.
- Your scores from our own class final and your scaled ACS score will both contribute to your "final exam" score: whichever exam you score better on will count twice as much as the other one towards your "final exam" score.
- a less-than-trivial problem from the ones at the end of chapters.
- Not a problem that was assigned for another purpose.
- You must pick your own problem: No two people will work the same problem. You *may* consult other people about your problem. (Give credit, as appropriate.)
- Exposition of the problem - Copy out the statement of the problem.
Use a different font to visually distinguish your work from the specification
of the problem. Label the problem with chapter and problem number.
- Diagrams and plots - Use a diagram to sketch out the physical system if appropriate,
and label the names of quantities (angles, coordinates, etc). You may
hand draw this! Include plots of functions as appropriate, for example to
indicate maxima or minima, or equipotentials, or a potential energy surface,
or otherwise enlighten the problem in some way.
- Grammar and spelling - Use a more formal voice than when speaking,
e.g. "a maxima" not "a max", "substitute in" rather than "plug in". Punctuation
in physics papers is a unique issue. You should punctuate equations as if
they were any other part of your writing: periods or commas frequently go
at the end of a displayed equation.
- Correctness of your solution - Gotta make sure you do the problem
right! See if you can include some sort of "sanity check" on your results as you
go along. For example, an estimation of the answer by some other means.
- Clarity of narration - Think of your audience as other students
in this class, with some general familiarity with the material. Name the
principles and techniques you're using to solve the problem at each section
of your problem. You may refer to equations in the textbook: give some context
to say where such an equation comes from.
- Math typesetting / notation - Use real subscripts (not t0 when you mean $t_0$). Figure out how to get greek letters in Mathematica. (Esc-a-esc results in $\alpha$. Esc-q-esc $\to \theta$.) Distinguish visually between vector and scalar quantities: scalars are usually displayed as non-bold italic quantities (Mathematica should do this automatically in math mode). Vector quantities are generally non-italic, and either have a little arrow over them, e.g. $\myv{b}$, or else appear as bold face, e.g. $\bf{b}$. Mathematica commands will generally appear as a monospaced font like this "Plot[ Sin[x],......]" without you having to do anything special. When displaying definite integrals, use the ' notation to distinguish between the integration variable and the integration limits, e.g. $$\int_{v_0}^{v(t)} \frac{dv'}{F(v')}.$$ It may be useful to number equations to refer back to them, or put in a hand lettered "star" or other convenient symbol beside one that you wish to refer back to.
- Motivation / context - Set the stage for your problem. What is the point of this problem? What larger principle does is illuminate?
B+/B/B- 87%/83/80
C+/C/C- 77%/73/70
D+/D 67%/60
Homework
You will always write up the homework problems yourself. But please do work together with others in the class on the assignments. You may also consult other textbooks and the web. And you may find a solution to some of the very problems in our textbook. But just as in a more writing-oriented class, * woe be unto you if you simply copy a solution that you find on the web, giving the appearance of your own work, when it's not. Instead, just get in the habit of informal citations, on all your work. E.g.
I will rely on a combination of collecting assigned homework and pop quizzes (up to 10) to evaluate how you're doing on your homework problems.
Final / ACS exam
There will be a final exam, over material we have covered in the course, but you will also take the ACS Thermodynamics exam.
The ACS (American Chemical Society) makes an exam on Thermodynamics which the GC Chemistry Department uses to evaluate its program and track long term trends in student learning. You will take the ACS exam in one of the last lab period of the semester.
The ACS exam tests a common range of topics taught in Thermodynamics classes, though it doesn't overlap completely with our course. This is true of all colleges where it is administered. It has been designed and tested such that half of the students that take it nationally will score less than 50% on the exam, and half will score above 50%. So...
Problem writeup
You will choose one problem to do a more formal write up. The problem should be:
You'll use Mathematica to write up a solution with equations, diagrams as appropriate, and text which explains the approach you took to the problem, and references the physical principles you're using. See notes on Mathematica documents. Like (some) writing assignments from other classes, you'll hand in a first draft of this, and after feedback, a final draft. The rubric used to grade this comprises these categories:
Writing / Tutoring
The Academic Success Center (ASC) (Good Library 113) offers tutoring and mentoring in writing for all students:
Tutoring - Once you're already logged into your Google account, you can use this form to sign up for tutoring:
Goshen College offers all students an equal opportunity for success. If you have a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact Judy Weaver in the ASC. You will be asked to provide documentation of your disability. Call or email: 574-535-7560; jweaver@goshen.edu. All information will be held in the strictest confidence.
* Dean's Office statement on plagiarism
Papers you submit in this course will be checked for plagiarized material copied from the web, other student papers, and selected on-line databases. Cases of plagiarism are reported to the Associate Dean. Penalties for plagiarism are listed in the college catalog and range from redoing the assignment to dismissal from the college.
Bibliography
Ashley H. Carter, Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics, Prentice Hall, 2000.
Carl Helrich,Modern Thermodynamics with Statistical Mechanics, Springer Verlag, 2009.
Kerson Huang, Statistical Mechanics, John Wiley, 1987 (2nd edition). Graduate-level text.
Z. S. Spakovszky, Thermodynamics and Propulsion, online notes from a class at MIT.
Henry Greenside, Introduction to Thermal Physics, online notes from a class at Duke University.