Physics 506 - Spring 2017

Thermal Physics

Contact Information
Learning Outcomes (includes Syllabus)
Course Policies and Classwork
Methods of Evaluation
Course Content
Course Schedule

Contact Information

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"

Learning Outcomes (includes Syllabus)

By the end of the term, successful students should be able to do the following:

Students are expected to know calculus including partial derivatives, and calculus-based introductory physics.


Course Policies and Classwork

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.


Methods of Evaluation

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:

Typical minimum scores for grades are as follows.
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.


Course Content:

The course content is derived from a variety of sources, including the texts below.


Texts:

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."

Detailed Course Schedule



This page is maintained by "Milind V. Purohit"