PH320

Thermodynamics (Should really be titled Thermostatics)

Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics are considered one of the four traditional, fundamental fields of physics (E&M, Mechanics, and Quantum Mechanics are the other three fields). Thermodynamics is also one of the least understood of the four fundamental fields of physics. I'm not sure what makes that last statement true, but I speculate it results from poorly taught classes by physicists who don't understand thermodynamics. This is disappointing because thermodynamics is very cool. You can look at expanding gases which leads to examining steam engines and the difference between a two stroke & four stroke engines. Statistical mechanics leads to understanding bulk magnetization, chemical reaction rates, and you can even turn the tools of thermodynamics on understanding corn production or global warming.

When challenge posed by thermodynamics are lots of new terminology. To help you get a handle on the language of thermo you will need to be an active reader and consult more than just the primary texts. Our primary texts will be Ralph Baierlien's Thermal Physics and Allen Wasserman's Energy and Entropy (Allen was one of my mentors while I was a graduate student at Oregon State University). I'll make available numerous other texts that you should consult frequently when the two primary texts do not explain things in a way that is understandable for you.

Course Objectives:

1. Understand how to obtain equations of state and solve for desired variables.
2. Strengthen calculus skills by solving thermodynamics problems.
3. Understand why Heat and Work are not nouns, but verbs.
4. Understand entropy.
5. See connections between thermodynamic theory and experiment (yes, we will do experiments).
6. Apply statistical mechanics to a wide range of problems to include problems such as corn production.
7. Understand the fairness function and the method of least bias / maximum entropy.
8. Understand that thermodynamics is a modern subject with connections to quantum mechanics and the other fundamental fields of physics.