Professor: Carlos Yero
email: yero@cua.edu
office: Hannan Hall 210
office hours: (any time) on appointment
CUA Faculty Webpage
Course Syllabus
Tu, Thu 11:10 am - 12:25 pm
Pangborn 322 A/B
Hannan 231
This is an intermediate level course on classical and statistical
thermodynamics.
It covers the topics of temperature, heat, ideal gases, the
laws of thermodynamics,
phase transitions, calorimetry, entropy, thermodynamic
potentials, Boltzmann statistics,
quantum statistics, Fermi gases, and
blackbody radiation.
| Week | Topic | Date | Text | Homework |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ch. 1 Energy in Thermal Physics | 8/27 8/29 |
1.1 Thermal Equilibrium No classes ~11:50 am - 2:10 pm |
set 0 |
| 2 | Ch. 1 Energy in Thermal Physics (and a little bit of Ch. 5) |
9/3 9/5 |
1.6 Heat Capacities 5.3 Phase Transitions 1.2 The Ideal Gas 1.3 Equipartition of Energy |
set 1 |
| 3 | Ch. 1 Energy in Thermal Physics Ch. 4 Engines & Refrigerators |
9/10 9/12 |
1.4 Heat & Work 1.5 Compression Work 4.1 Heat Engines 4.2 Refrigeratores |
set 2 , project I |
| 4 | Ch. 3 Interactions & Implications (and a little bit of Ch. 2 ) |
9/17 9/19 |
2.6 Entropy 3.1 Temperature 3.2 Entropy & Heat |
set 3 , project II |
| 5 | Ch. 3 Interactions & Implications Ch. 5 Free Energy & Chemical Thermodynamics |
9/24 9/26 |
3.4 Mechanical Equilibrium & Pressure 3.5 Diffusive Equilibrium & Chemical Potential 3.6 Summary and a Look Ahead 5.1 Free Energy as Available Work 5.2 Free Energy as a Force toward Equilibrium |
set 4 , project III |
| 6 | Ch. 5 Free Energy & Chemical Thermodynamics | 10/1 10/3 |
5.3 Phase Transitions 5.6 Chemical Equilibrium |
|
| 7 | Ch. 2 The Second Law | 10/8 10/10 |
2.1 Two-State Systems 2.2 The Einstein Model of a Solid 2.3 Interacting Systems |
|
| 8 | Admin. Monday (Tues. classes do NOT meet) Ch. 2 The Second Law |
10/15 10/17 |
NO CLASSES 2.4 Large Systems |
|
| 9 | Ch. 2 The Second Law | 10/22 10/24 |
2.4 Large Systems 2.5 The Ideal Gas |
|
| 10 | Ch. 2 The Second Law | 10/29 10/31 |
2.5 The Ideal Gas |
set5 , set5_problem6_guide |
| 11 | Ch. 6 Boltzmann Statistics | 11/5 11/7 |
6.1 The Boltzmann Factor 6.2 Average Values 6.3 The Equipartition Theorem 6.4 The Maxwell Speed Distributions |
set6 |
| 12 | Ch. 6 Boltzmann Statistics | 11/12 11/14 |
6.5 Partition Functions & Free Energy 6.6 Partition Functions for Composite Systems 6.7 The Ideal Gas Revisited |
set7 |
| 13 | Ch. 7 Quantum Statistics | 11/19 11/21 |
7.1 The Gibbs Factor 7.2 Bosons & Fermions 7.3 Degenerate Fermi Gases |
|
| 14 | Thanksgiving Recess Begins |
11/26 11/28 |
NO CLASSES |
Course Evaluations |
| 15 | Ch. 7 Quantum Statistics | 12/3 12/5 |
7.4 Blackbody Radiation 7.5 Debye Theory of Solids 7.6 Bose-Einstein Condensation |
|
| 16 | Final Examination Week Exam III |
12/10 12/12 |
Exam III : Ch. 2, 6, 7 (TBD) |
| Exam I -- Tuesday, 1 October (Ch. 1 & part of 5.3) |
| Exam II -- Thursday, 7 November (Ch. 3, 4, 5) |
| Exam III -- TBD, Dec. x, Finals Week (Ch. 2, 6, 7) |
Grades will be based on the class participation, problem assignments and four exams as follows:
Undergraduates:
Graduates:
All tests must be taken on the scheduled date.
Makeup tests will ONLY be given under rare circumstances,
in case of an emergency ocurring prior to or on the exam date.
Prove of absence will be required.
Course Grade Point Scale
A+ = 97-100, A = 93-96, A- = 90-92
B+ = 87-89, B = 83-86, B- = 80-82
C+ = 77-79, C = 73-76, C- = 70-72
D = 60 - 69, F < 60
Official Grade Policy by CUA can be found on:
Undergraduate Grade Policy
Graduate Grade Policy
Late assignments will ONLY be
accepted under rare circumstances, in case of emergency.
While collaboration on homework assignments is allowed, simply copying work from another student
is NOT allowed and will be considered cheating.