Syllabus for Phys 381: "Engineering Thermodynamics"

Instructor: Taner Edis

The best way to reach me is to e-mail me (you can look up my address on the Truman directory). Otherwise, you can try calling my office at 785-4583, or faxing me at 785-7604. Until 9pm, you can also try me at home, 665-0491.

My office is at BT 258, and I will have office hours from 11:30 to 1:30 every Monday and Friday, and 11:30 to 12:30 every Wednesday. Of course, there's a good chance I will be around my office at other times as well. Check my typical schedule to see what hours I am most likely to be available.

I will be using the Internet to post course-related notices and documents. Please fill out the student survey to give me your e-mail, and bookmark the Phys 381 home page, www2.truman.edu/~edis/courses/381.

Course Description

Phys 381 is a survey of basic thermodynamic concepts engineers need to work with, or will encounter in the course of their studies. It requires a solid background in physics, derived from the introductory "Physics for Scientists and Engineers" sequence. It also requires proficiency in calculus. Anything beyond is of course helpful, but I will not assume anything beyond what you should have picked up in your introductory physics and math courses.

As with most physics and engineering courses, Engineering Thermodynamics involves a fair amount of homework and individual study of the textbook. You learn thermodynamics by solving challenging problems, more than by a cursory reading of the book or convincing yourself you understand the lectures.

Schedule

Technically one of the lectures should be a "recitation," but I will usually solve example problems in the course of lecturing rather than devote an hour specifically to this purpose.

Course materials

The textbook: Richard E. Sonntag & Claus Borgnakke, Introduction to Engineering Thermodynamics, John Wiley & Sons.

I do not intend to follow the textbook slavishly, though it will be your primary point of reference. I will sometimes inject material from a different text: Sonntag & Van Wylen's, Introduction to Thermodynamics, 3rd edition, Wiley. You do not need to obtain a copy; if you need to take a look, the library will have a copy on reserve, or you are welcome to borrow my copy briefly.

Homework

Homework is important. It will determine 30% of your final grade.

I will post a list of homework problems most every week in class. They will be due in one week, unless I explicitly state otherwise. Most problems will be from your textbook, but from time to time I might add something else.

I do not mind you discussing the homework with one another as well as with me. I am not, in fact, averse to giving out hints if you tell me you're stuck; the purpose of homework is not to make your lives miserable. However, I expect you to turn in the results of your own efforts -- not group solutions, and certainly not solutions directly borrowed from someone else. If I find homeworks too similar to each other, especially if they make the same mistakes, you will have some explaining to do.

Exams

There will be two midterms, both determining 15% of your final grade. The final is worth 30%.

You will be allowed to consult your textbook and notes during all exams.

Each exam will also include one question which you will be given one day before the actual test. This will be a slightly more difficult question which you can work on at home, with less time pressure; you will bring your answer and hand it in with the in-class exam. I expect you to work on this strictly alone, without discussing it with others.

Research Project

The remaining 10% of your grade will come from a small research project you will undertake.

The nature of this project is largely up to your own initiative. No later than one month into the semester, I expect you to schedule a fifteen-minute meeting with me in which we will discuss your project. During this meeting, I can present you with some possibilities. It would be best, however, if you came to me with some prior idea about what you want to do. Propose something!

For example, you might tell me you're interested in automotive engineering, and you would like to consult a few basic semipopular sources to find out how the cooling system in modern cars work. Or you might want to do some very basic reading about how thermodynamics matters in the operation of integrated circuits. It's up to you.

It is also perfectly acceptable to take on a project relating to some student research you are already involved in, or which fits in with another physics course you are taking or have taken. All I ask is that it be connected to thermodynamics, and that it require you to do some very minor research which goes beyond what I present in the classroom.

The idea here is to let you use your initiative, and go beyond the usual routine of taking notes, doing homework, and surviving exams.

Final grades

As with every other aspect of the course, I intend to be flexible. If you get less than 50% in your overall grade, you will certainly fail, and 90% or better will certainly be an A, but otherwise, I don't want to declare rigid boundaries such as "65%-77% is a C" and so forth.

If you want to know how you are doing, or what sort of performance on the final you would need for an A, or have similar grade-related concerns, just stop by my office and ask. I should be able to give you a fair estimate of where you stand.

Returned Work

I will return graded work to you during class, or you can come by my office and ask for it. Keep all your work in one place for reference, and for possible inclusion in your University Portfolio. I may discard any papers that have not been picked up after a week from when they were first made available to you.

Make-Ups

It is hard to arrange for appropriate make-ups for exams or homeworks in a course like this. So I expect you will do everything possible to turn your work in on time, and so avoid later hassle for both me and yourself.

Nevertheless, you may find you have missed something because of a legitimate excuse like being badly sick or having a death in your family. In this case, come and speak with me, and I will decide, on a case-by-case basis, how to make up what you have missed. I will typically assign you some appropriate extra work, have you take a make-up exam in my office, or something similar.

Outline of Topics

Whether we can cover the last couple of chapters will depend on you. If it looks like you're handling the material with few difficulties, we'll get there; if I decide you need more emphasis on the basics, we will have a slower pace.