Physics 313 - Thermodynamics



Term: September 2006
Lecturer: Scott Oser
Class coordinates:  MWF 11-12, in Hebb 13
Office Hours: Monday 9:30-10:00 and Thursday 11:00-12:00
TA:
Rob Pitcairn and Bojan Ramadanovic
Prerequisites: MATH 200, and one of PHYS 102, PHYS 108, PHYS 153.  You will also find it very useful to remember your high school chemistry classes, and you are expected to have learned and still remember all high school math.
Textbook:
An Introduction to Thermal Physics, by Daniel V. Schroeder
A common printing error: If the top of p. 86 of your textbook says "Chapter 7", you have a not-so-rare
    printer's error.  You can download and print out the correct p. 86 here
Supplemental material:  You may also find these books enlightening:

Your grade will be determined by:

Homework

20%

Midterm 1

20%

Midterm 2

20%

Final Exam

40%


Homework: 
I strongly believe that the best way to learn physics is to do homework problems.  Expect frequent, typically weekly, problem sets.  You are welcome to discuss problems informally with your classmates.  However, you must complete the assignment yourself, and if you hand in obviously copied homework, you should expect a mark of zero on that assignment, or worse. Assignments are due by the end of class on the day they are due.  There is no tolerance for late assignments without proof of medical or tragic reason.  I will not accept late assignments.  If you have a really good excuse for why you won't be able to finish an assignment (for example, if you're getting married, being arraigned on criminal charges, etc.), I might be willing to accommodate you, but only if you ask ahead of time (at least 2 days' notice).  Don't come to me after the fact or at the last minute.  Being "really busy" is not a valid reason for handing in HW late.

HW assignments, and solution sets, will be posted at the bottom of this web page as they become available.

Midterm #1: You may use a calculator and a handwritten (not photocopied) formula sheet (8.5”x11” maximum size, but you can use both sides)


Missed exams:  There will be two midterm exams in class.  No makeup exams will be offered.  If you miss an exam with a legitimate excuse (proof of illness, family emergency, etc), I will simply count the other midterm for twice as much.  If you miss a midterm exam without proof of a legitimate excuse, then you get a score of zero on the exam.  No one will be excused from both midterms for any reason.

Religious holidays:  Students are entitled to request an alternate test date if a scheduled test date falls on one of their holy days.  If you think this may apply to you, please contact me as soon as possible to make an alternate arrangement.  Please don't put this off until the last minute---you must give at least two week's notice.

FINAL EXAM: 
The date for the final exam is Saturday December 9 at 8:30am, in SWNG 121. The full exam schedule is available here.


Syllabus
:  A tentative lecture schedule follows.  It will almost certainly be adjusted as the course proceeds.

Lecture

Date

Topics Covered

Reading Material
(Textbook Sections)

Assignment Due (tentative)

1

9/6

Class organization; Introduction; What is temperature?

1.1


2

9/8

Temperature & energy; ideal gas law

1.2


3

9/11

Equipartition theorem; heat, work & energy; compression of ideal gas

1.3-1.5


4

9/13

Compression of ideal gas; heat capacity; enthalpy

1.5-1.6

HW 1

5

9/15

Second law of thermodynamics; the two-state system; Einstein solids

2.1-2.2


6

9/18

Einstein solids; interacting systems

2.2-2.3


7

9/20

Large systems; Stirling's Approximation; multiplicity of a large Einstein solid

2.4


8

9/22

Multiplicity of an ideal gas

2.5

HW 2

9

9/25

Entropy

2.6


10

9/27

Entropy of mixing; Gibbs paradox; entropic definition of temperature

2.6, 3.1


11

9/29

Entropy and heat

3.2

HW 3

12

10/2

An exotic system: the two-state paramagnet

3.3


13

10/4

Mechanical equilibrium and pressure

3.4


14

10/6

Chemical equilibrium; the chemical potential; review for midterm

3.5

HW 4


10/9

NO CLASS - Thanksgiving




10/11

MIDTERM 1



15

10/13

Idealized heat engines

4.1


16

10/16

Ideal refrigerators; Realistic heat engines

4.2-4.3


17

10/18

Realistic heat engines; steam engines; realistic refrigerators; throttling

4.3-4.4


18

10/20

Realistic refrigerators

4.4

HW 5

19

10/23

Thermodynamic potentials; fuel cells

5.1


20

10/25

Energetics of batteries; Maxwell relations

5.1


21

10/27

Free energy & equilibrium; phase transitions

5.2-5.3

HW 6

22

10/30

Phase transitions; the Clausius-Clapeyron relation

5.3


23

11/1

The Van der Waal's model

5.3


24

11/3

The Boltzmann distribution

6.1

HW 7


11/6

Review for midterm



25

11/8

Midterm 2



26

11/10

Computing average values with Boltzmann distributions

6.2



11/13

Remembrance Day---No Class



27

11/15

The equipartition theorem revisited; Maxwell velocity distribution

6.2-6.4


28

11/17

Partition functions and free energy; composite partition functions

6.6-6.6, 7.2


29

11/20

Intro to Quantum Statistics

7.2


30

11/22

Black body radiation

7.4

HW 8

31

11/24

More black body radiation; cosmic microwave background

7.4


32

11/27

Black hole thermodynamics



33

11/29

Fermi gases

7.3


34

12/1

Overflow/Review for Final


HW9


TBD

FINAL EXAM





HW1

Due September 13

HW 1 Solution Set

HW2

Due September 22

HW 2 Solution Set

HW3

Due September 29

HW 3 Solution Set

HW4

Due October 6

HW 4 Solution Set

HW5

Due October 20

HW 5 Solution Set

Midterm #1

October 11, 2006

Midterm #1 Solution Set

HW6

Due October 27

HW 6 Solution Set

HW7

Due November 3

HW 7 Solution Set

Midterm #2

November 8, 2006

Midterm #2 Solution Set

HW8

Due November 22

HW 8 Solution Set

HW9

Due December 1

HW 9 Solution Set










Scott Oser (email me) November 15, 2006