Physics 506 - Spring 2017
Thermal Physics
Contact Information
Learning Outcomes (includes Syllabus)
Course Policies and Classwork
Methods of Evaluation
Course Content
Course Schedule
Lecture Times: TR 10:05 AM - 11:20 AM
Lecture Room: PSC 205
Professor: Prof. Milind V. Purohit
Office: PSC 404c
Office Hour: Wed 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Home Page: "Milind V. Purohit's Home Page"
By the end of the term, successful students should be able to do the
following:
- Be able to solve simple problems in thermodynamics of heat, work,
heat capacity, latent heat, and enthalpy.
- Know how to solve standard problems involving entropy arising from
the multiplicity of states in a large system such as an ideal gas or
Einstein's model of solids.
- Understand Entropy, Temperature, Heat, and the connection between
these.
- Understand the principles behind Heat Engines and Refrigerators,
the Carnot cycle, and the efficiency of a heat engine.
- Be able to apply partial derivative calculus to solve practical
problems in free energy, and thermodynamic potentials; understand the
phase transitions of substances.
- Be able to use statistics and statistical mechanics to interpret
and calculate quantities in thermodynamics; in particular know how to
set up and use the partition function for such calculations.
- Understand quantum statistics of fermions and bosons and how to do
calculations in aggregations of such particles.
- Use the preceding knowledge and that of the density of states to
study matter.
- Understand the basic principles of radiation and be able to
calculate various aspects of blackbody radiation.
- As time permits, study advanced statistical physics and condensed
matter concepts.
Students are expected to know calculus including partial
derivatives, and calculus-based introductory physics.
Course Policies (from CTE website):
The University of South Carolina has clearly articulated its policies
governing academic integrity and students are encouraged to carefully
review the policy on the Honor Code in the Carolina Community. Any
deviation from these expectations will result in academic penalties as
well as disciplinary action.
Classwork:
Classwork will consist of quizzes, on-board solutions of problems by
students and / or presentations. Students will be encouraged to
participate in discussions and demonstrate understanding in one or more
of these ways.
Students are evaluated through the semester using classwork, homework,
in-class tests as well as a final exam.
Grading:
Students turning in less than 70% of homeworks will automatically earn
an F grade.
Scores for students turning in 70% or more of homeworks will be calculated as follows:
- 10% of the score is for classwork and in-class tests and quizzes.
- 35% for Homework.
- 25% for two in-class Tests. There will be no makeup tests.
- 30% for the Final Exam.
Typical minimum scores for grades are as follows.
- A: 90%. B+: 85%. B: 75%. C+: 70%. C: 60%. D: 50%.
Graduate students will be assigned additional asterisked problems, and
tests as well as the final exam will include one or more such problems
to be solved by graduate students in lieu of certain non-asterisked
problems.
Homework:
Homework problems will be assigned every week and will
be due at the Wednesday lecture of the next week.
Homework that is up to one week late earns 50% points; after that no
credit will be given.
Attendance: Please note that official USC policy states that
"Absence from more than 10 percent of the scheduled class sessions,
whether excused or unexcused, is excessive and the instructor may choose
to exact a grade penalty for such absences." [Memo from the Provost,
Aug. 25, 2014.]
Expectations for Classroom Behavior
All cell phones and pagers are to be turned off or silenced during
class. All cell phones are to be put away out of view during class;
there is no text messaging, web browsing, etc, during class. There will
be no eating during class time. Failure to adhere to these classroom
rules may result in your being dismissed from class and/or an academic
penalty.
Please be respectful of each other, the instructor, and any guest
presenters while in class. We are all here to learn! Any disrespectful
or disruptive behavior may result in your referral to the Office of
Student Judicial Programs.
The course content is derived from a variety of sources, including the
texts below.
Texts:
- An Introduction to Thermal Physics, by Daniel V. Schroeder, 1st
Edition (2000). ISBN-13: 978-0201380279, ISBN-10: 0201380277.
In this course we focus on the following basic concepts of thermal physics.
Equilibrium thermodynamics: Heat, Work, Energy, and Entropy, and the
Laws of Thermodynamics. Ideal gases and other states of matter.
Thermodynamic variables and potentials, partial derivatives and Maxwell
relations, PV-diagrams. Engines, Refrigerators. Free energy. How
thermodynamics arises from Statistical Mechanics. The Boltzmann factor,
the equipartition theorem, the Maxwell speed distribution, and the
partition function. Quantum Statistics of fermions and bosons,
degenerate Fermi gases, photons and statistical properties of
electromagnetic radiation.
Advanced topics will be covered as well, as time permits.
Office of Student Disability Services policy statement
"Any student with a documented disability should contact the Office of
Student Disability Services at 803-777-6142 to make arrangements for
appropriate accommodations."
This page is maintained by
"Milind V. Purohit"