Goshen College > Physics

Physics 310 / Chemistry 310
Thermodynamics

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Syllabus, Fall 2022(-2023)

We meet at:

• 9:00-9:50 am, MWF in SC 203 (with Paul Meyer Reimer)
• 12:30-3:20 pm, Thursday Lab in SC 302 (with Dan Smith) for those taking the class for 4 credit hours

Catalog description

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. Lectures and laboratories. Prerequisites: Phys 203-204, Chem 111-112, Math 211 and 213 (all grades C or better) or consent of the instructor.

On the web

Instructors

Paul Meyer Reimer - no fixed office hours, but consult my class schedule (or my google calendar) for a good time to drop by.

Sci 011   ·   x7318   ·   e-mail: paulmr@goshen.edu
text: (GV) (574) 312-3395

Dan Smith

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 213 (Calculus III)

Texts and Tools

Required for the lecture portion of the class

• Ashley Carter, Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics.  ISBN 9780137792085, Alibris (used books).
• We'll be using CoCalc. Here are instructions for signing up for an account (free) and getting started

Required for the lab portion of the class

• Safety Goggles
• A GC lab notebook

Recommended but not required

• Carl W. Garland, et. al., Experiments in Physical Chemistry. 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 + RQ	25%
Video homeworks	10%
problem writeup + heatpump writeup	10%
Class activitis / participation	2%
Class activitis / participation	2%
Community Activities	3%
1 midterm exam	20%
Final exam & ACS exam	30%

The percentages above are for the class (3 credit) portion of the course, which is all that is require of Engineering Physics majors.

For those taking the lab, and taking the class for 4 credit hours, your grade above willl account for 3/4 of your semester grade, and your lab grade will count for 1/4.

minimum grade outcomes:

A/A- 93%/90
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 worked together with Joe Cool and Jill GC on this problem."
• "I consulted a web page at [insert URL] about this one."

I will rely on a combination of collecting assigned homework and quizzes (no more than 8) to evaluate how you're doing on your homework problems.

New this year: You will complete 2 video homework (VHW) assignments.

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 periods 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...

• 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.

Problem writeup

You will choose one problem to do a more formal write up. The problem should be:

• 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.)

Here is More information about the problem writeup.

Writing / Tutoring

The Academic Success Center (ASC) (Good Library 113) offers tutoring and mentoring in writing for all students:

• goshen.edu/asc

Tutoring - Once you're already logged into your Google account, you can use this form to sign up for tutoring:

• tiny.cc/GCtutoring

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. Our textbook.

Carl Helrich,Modern Thermodynamics with Statistical Mechanics, Springer Verlag, 2009. Graduate-level textbook written by Prof. Emeritus from Goshen College.

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.

Schedule & Topics

The list of topics is more firm than the schedule, which *will* shift.

"🚫" means a topic not covered in this term's incarnation of the course.

29 August - 2 September Monday 29 9:00 AM in SC 203 - First day of our class	Thermodynamics Systems Exact and Inexact differentials
5 September - 9 September Monday 5 Labor Day, no class	States and processes P, T, Zero'th law Partial derivatives and path independence RQ2
12 September - 16 September	Equations of state P-v-T diagrams Expansivity / compressibility [3] Heat and Work
19 September - 23 September	First Law Changing systems with heat Enthalpy Work - ideal gas Ideal vs Non-ideal gases
26 September - 30 September	Heat engines
3 October - 7 October	Heat pump assignment The Carnot cycle Irreversible processes 2nd Law & Entropy
10 October - 14 October Friday 14 No class Midterm break through Tues Oct 18	[Secrets of] energy conservation at Goshen College RQ Free vs isothermal expansion Gibbs Law
17 October - 21 October Monday 17 No class Friday 21 Midterm Test	Entropy changes and heat reservoirs Tds equations Midterm exam
24 October - 28 October	Thermodynamic potentials Two-phase systems Liquid / gas in coexistence
31 October - 4 November	The Rankine cycle (and some others) Clausius-Clapeyron equation Open systems
7 November - 11 November	Chemical processes Chemistry and Phases
14 November - 18 November	3rd law - Absolute Zero [10.1] Kinetic theory of gases Energy and degrees of freedom Entropy of mixing [9.5]
21 November - 25 November Tuesday 22 HW #9 due Wednesday 23 Thanksgiving break through Fri Nov 25	Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution Final exam - study guide Study guide (ACS)
28 November - 2 December Wednesday 30 6 PM, Engineering info + Pizza, SC 203 Friday 2 9:30, Zoey presents on geothermal heat pumps, AD 28	Quantum statistical mechanics [12.1] Entropy and Thermodynamic probability Quantum Mechanics - in a box [12.6]
5 December - 9 December Monday 5 Last day of classes ACS exam @9:00 am in class. Tuesday 6 Reading day Please complete your course evaluations. Wednesday 7 1 PM our final exam
12 December - 16 December