Basic Info

  • Instructor: Dave Feldman
  • Email:dfeldman@coa.edu
  • Pronouns: he/him/his
  • Problem Solving Sessions: TBA, via Zoom.
  • Teaching Assistants:None

Course Goals

  1. Stay physically and mentally healthy and maintain intellectual and personal connection in a time of dispersal and isolation.
  2. Experience the challenge, joy, and beauty of physics. I want you to gain an understanding and appreciation of the structure and style of physics as an intellectual approach and discipline.
  3. I want to learn the basic principles and techniques of thermodynamics, and be able to apply thermodynamics to problems across the sciences.
  4. Improve your problem solving skills and mathematical confidence. Leave this course with an increased ability to do mathematics and physics.
  5. Have fun while learning a lot.

Course Structure and Pacing

This is my fourth time teaching this course, so I think I have a pretty good feel for how it will go. But we are in a pandemic, and everything is feels different now, so we'll see.

There are three parts to this class each with a somewhat different feel:

  1. Chapter 1. This will be conservation of energy in various guises. Most of this material will be new to you, but it will have a familiar feel.
  2. Chapter 2-3. Here we will encounter entropy and the second law of thermodynamics in various guises. This material will be new, some of the math will be new, and it will be a bit abstract and big-picture.
  3. Chapter 4-5. Here we will apply all the new stuff from chapters 2-3 to a wide array of phenomena. This will be the most interesting, challenging, and perhaps the most rewarding part of the class.

We will cover most of the first four chapters of the text.

Class Meetings

  1. This class meets three times a week. The first week we will meet on zoom. After that we will meet in person, with a zoom option.
  2. I'm not certain how it will be teaching in-person and via zoom at the same time, since I haven't taught in this mode before. It will take some trial and error to figure out what works best. Your feedback (and patience) is appreciated.
  3. Classes will usually run from 9:45 - 11:00. We might occasionally end early.
  4. I strongly encourage you to take handwritten notes. The physical component of taking notes helps to keep you engaged. And taking handwritten notes requires you to do some on-the-fly synthesis and prioritization, deepening your understanding.
  5. During class you will sometimes work in small groups on problems. Figuring out the best way to do this on Zoom and physically-distanced in-person will take some creativity trial and error.

Homework

  1. There will be a homework assignment due almost every Friday. It is essential that you do these assignments, as this is how one learns physics, and also this is what your evaluation will be based on.
  2. If you need extra time for one or two of the homework assignments, it's not a big deal. But be mindful to not fall farther behind every week.
  3. I do not expect all of the homework assignments to be easy; I don't expect you to be able to sit down and do them easily the first time. Don't let yourself get frustrated. I strongly suggest working with others and seeking help if you need it.
  4. Thoughts on how to approach the homework (and what I'll be evaluating you on) can be found here: thoughts on homework solutions.
  5. You are strongly encouraged to work together on homework. You can also consult me, class tutors, other faculty, friends, and family. However, the homework you hand in should represent your own understanding.
  6. As I plan on sending out homework assignments and other information via email/google classroom, it is important that you check your email/classroom regularly.
  7. All homework will be posted on the schedule page of this website and on our course's google classroom page. All assignments should be submitted via classroom.

Other Thoughts

  1. You will want to have at your disposal a scientific calculator or phone/tablet app. I strongly suggest an actual calculator. You do not need a graphing calculator for this course (or, in my opinion, ever).
  2. This class is large and there are no teaching assistants. We will have to figure out how optimally schedule help sessions. I suspect this will a week or two to figure this out.
  3. Some of the problems in this course are multi-step problems for which the solution path will not be immediately clear. Some problems may take several pages to work through. My hope is that this is challenging and rewarding.

Help Sessions

I will have a handful of help sessions every week. You are warmly invited and encouraged to attend these sessions. I'm planning to offer both in-person and zoom help sessions. We'll see how this goes. Help sessions are relaxed, informal, and hopefully fun. Things that happen at help sessions:

  1. I am around to offer help on the homework.
  2. Some students do most of the homework while at a help session. They work through problems alone or with others, and find it comforting to know that help is immediately at hand if needed.
  3. Others do the problems at home and come to the help session with specific questions.
  4. We can experiment with breakout rooms for folks who want to work together in small groups during the help session.
  5. Help sessions are also a chance to ask general questions about the course. Conversations also sometimes wander into other areas: politics, the state of the world, what's for dinner, what classes are offered next term, and so on.
  6. Help sessions are a great way to meet other students in the class.

Everyone is welcome at help sessions! Attending these sessions help students do well in the class and get as much out of it as possible.

You should also feel free to reach out to me any time with questions. If you're stuck on a problem, it might help to take a photo of what you've done so far and include it in an email. I might be able to help you with a short email, or we could set up a time to meet on zoom.

Diversity and Inclusion

It is my intent that students from all backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, that students' learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength, and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, age, religion, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, and culture.

Learning about diverse perspectives and identities is an ongoing process. I am always looking to learn more about power and privilege and the harmful effects of racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and other forms of discrimination and oppression. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups. If something was said or done in class (by anyone, including me) that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. You can also reach out to Provost Ken Hill, or Associate Deans Bonnie Tai or Jamie McKown.

Evaluation

Evaluation will be based on the weekly homework assignments. I do not have any quota of A's, B's, etc. This is an unusual time. I'd strongly consider taking this class without letter grades. Perhaps for some of you not having letter grades will reduce anxiety. I'm happy to talk through options if anyone wants.

Textbook

We will be using the following textbook Daniel V. Schroeder, An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Oxford University Press, 2021 (ISBN 978-0192895554). The webpage for the textbook has some useful information, including a list of errata. There is an older edition of the book published by Addison-Wesley and several international editions. Any edition will work fine.

Standard Disclaimers

  • You should expect to spend a minimum of 150 academically engaged hours associated with this one-credit course. These 150 hours will be spent roughly as follows: 4 hr/wk "in" class, 1 hr/wk on discussion forums, 2 hr/wk reading, 1hr/wk writing papers/blog posts, 7 hr/wk on homework.
  • By enrolling in an academic institution, a student is subscribing to common standards of academic honesty. Any cheating, plagiarism, falsifying or fabricating of data is a breach of such standards. A student must make it his or her responsibility to not use words or works of others without proper acknowledgment. Plagiarism is unacceptable and evidence of such activity is reported to the academic dean or his/her designee. Two violations of academic integrity are grounds for dismissal from the college. Students should request in-class discussions of such questions when complex issues of ethical scholarship arise.