Syllabus

Vitals

• Course Number and Title: PHYS 3110: Statistical Thermodynamics.
• Catalog Description: "This course seeks to investigate how the unifying concepts of atomic theory can lead to an understanding of the observed behavior of macroscopic systems, how quantities describing the directly measurable properties of such systems are interrelated, and how these quantities can be deduced from a knowledge of atomic characteristics. Topics to be covered include properties of equilibria, heat and temperature, statistical ensembles, probability, specification of the state of a system, Maxwell distribution, equipartition theorem, applications to an ideal gas, phases, thermal conductivity, and transport of energy. There is no lab for this course. Prerequisite: PHYS 2110." (North Park University 2009)
• General Education: This course does not satisfy any General Education area requirements.
• Meeting Time/Place: TTh 9:50 am–11:30 am (Carlson Tower, Room C-57).
• Credit: 4 sh.

Instructor

• Name: Johnny Lin.
• Email: johnny at johnny-lin.com (Replace "at" by "@". This is the best way to reach me).
• Twitter: jwblin (I'm not on the public timeline, however).
• Work Phone: (773) 244-6266.
• Office Location: Carlson Tower, Room C-26.
• Office Hours: See my schedule for my regular office hours, make an appointment to see me, or just drop in if my door's open.
• Personal Link: http://www.johnny-lin.com.
• My RateMyProfessors.com Rating.

Texts & Supplies

Required text: Schroeder, Daniel V., An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000, ISBN 0201380277.

The textbook is required and available at the bookstore.

Computer requirements: All students are expected to have unfettered access to a personal computer (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) or netbook with broadband-speed Internet access. Student access to University computing labs fulfills this requirement. All students are assumed to be proficient with a word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet program (e.g., Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel). Familiarity, or the ability to rapidly become familiar with some sort of more sophisticated scientific programming environment (e.g., Mathematica, Python), is assumed. All students must have a valid email account that they check on a daily basis.

See the list of External Links for additional resources on the subjects of the course.

Goals & Topics

First and foremost, I hope you will discover new ways of worshiping God through learning about statistical thermodynamics, including through deepening of knowledge, encountering symmetry and elegance, and engaging in work. Additional goals include:

• Understanding how macroscopic behavior can be described in terms of statistics of microscopic quantities.
• Analyzing systems in terms of energy, entropy, heat, and work and the dynamics of those quantities.
• Growing in learning how to learn. Topics include memorization, problem-casting, decomposition and solving, building physical and mathematical intuition regarding meaning and system behavior, and learning through Socratic questioning and dialog (see the External Links page for some tips on learning).

Requirements

Reading: Due the class session after when assigned. The primary mode of group instruction for this class will not be a traditional lecture but rather a Socratic dialog where together we will interrogate the text and its topics. Thus it is critical everyone has read the assigned section prior to each class. Since dialogs do not necessarily follow a precise schedule, readings will be assigned each class. I will not grade you on the "quality" of your participation in class; there is no such thing as a "stupid" question in class. I do, however, expect you to work hard in preparing for and engaging in each class.

Homework: Due the class session after when assigned. Homework will be assigned on a rolling basis, with a problem or two given after almost every class meeting. Homework will be graded on effort only, with full-credit given if all problems are reasonably attempted and no-credit if most problems are not reasonably attempted.

Project: Due Tuesday, April 27, in-class. The project may be research based in the literature, a computer program, or an experimentally useful device. The project should be less complex than a Phys 2520 project, but more complex than an encyclopedia article/high school-level science report. See the project description for details.

Quizzes: Weekly, on Thursdays. In-class. Quizzes will generally cover the previous week's material.

Final exam: Thursday, May 6, 10:30 am–12:30 pm. In-class and comprehensive.

Grading

• Homework: 35%
• Project: 5%
• Quizzes: 40%
• Final Exam: 20%

If you have done no less than 60% of the Homework and taken no less than 60% of the Quizzes, I will replace your cumulative Quizzes grade with your Final Exam grade if the Final Exam grade is higher.

Scale: The chart below shows the lower-end cutoffs for each possible passing letter grade. The University, as a policy, does not award A+ grades.

Lower Cutoff (inclusive)	Letter Grade
94%	A
90%	A–
87%	B+
84%	B
80%	B–
77%	C+
74%	C
70%	C–
67%	D+
64%	D
60%	D–

Makeups & Late Policy

There are no makeups for quizzes, exams, or presentations/demonstrations unless for reasons of physical health, bereavement, or University business.

Work is accepted only in class. It may be considered late anytime after it is collected in class. Work late:

• 1 class session: 20% is deducted.
• 2 class sessions: 40% is deducted.
• > 2 class sessions: Not accepted.

Late penalties are waived for reasons of physical health, bereavement, or University business. Please see me/send me an email if something like this comes up.

Collaborating

As with any relationship, I expect honesty, respect, and grace to be the foundation of our time together. I expect this for myself, as well as for you. Collaborating in work is a wonderful opportunity to practice all three principles. Cheating, however, is an affront (to the first two) or an abuse (of the last) of these norms, and so will result (at a minimum) in a zero for the Assignment involved. If you are not sure what constitutes cheating, please ask me; here are some guidelines to help you on this issue:

• For problem sets, papers, reports, presentations, and projects: I encourage you to work together and discuss your ideas freely. Each person must, however, write-up the Assignment themselves; do not just re-copy one another's solutions.
• For writing assignments of any form, plagiarism is, of course, cheating. Plagiarism involves representing another's work as your own and/or without proper acknowledgment. The most common form is the use of another's words without quotation or citation.
• For the quizzes and exams: These should be your own work, written without the use of other help or resources, unless explicitly specified.

While I make solutions inaccessible on class websites after the class is over (to decrease temptations to cheat), our department is small, and so you probably know someone who has taken this class before and has copies of exams, problem sets, and/or solutions. I also have a policy of giving students solutions to as much work as I can because I want students to use their old work in studying for the final (or other exams). Thus, I realize that solutions are potentially in circulation. However, I ask that current students limit their consultation of work from previous sections in certain ways. Here are specific scenario categories:

• Consultation of problem set solutions from previous sections while you are working on that same problem: This constitutes cheating.
• Consultation of papers, reports, projects or presentations from previous sections while working on a current section's paper, report, project or presentation: This does not constitute cheating. I encourage you to use other people's work to give you ideas (though, as mentioned above, please do not just copy their work) for these types of Assignments!
• Consultation of any Assignments (including problem set solutions, papers, exams, etc.) from previous sections while studying for a current section's quiz or exam: I do not consider this cheating.

For example, if you have a friend who took this course before and you consult his/her problem set solutions while studying for an exam, that does not constitute cheating. However, if you consult those problem set solutions while working on that problem set, that does constitute cheating.

I believe these are reasonable guidelines that balance a number of competing interests, and that do not constitute an unfair burden on conscientious students. Recall that I do not curve grades, so dishonest students really are hurting themselves and God, but not other students. Please let me know if you have any concerns.

Disabilities

"Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Academic Services Learning Specialist by email or by phone at (773) 244-5737, or stop by the office located on the 2nd floor of the Student Services Building. Please do so as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely manner. If needed, appointments can be relocated" (North Park University 2009). More information is available online at http://www.northpark.edu/disability.

Schedule

Updated: Friday, 01-Jan-2010 14:13:12 PST. Valid CSS, HTML. Author: Johnny Lin <email address>. Disclaimer. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.