PHY 351, Spring '05 
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Time: M W 2:00 -3:15 PM 
Instructor: J. C. Macosko
Office: Olin 215 
Office Hours: M, F 1:00-2:00pm and by appointment. 
   Web Sites:      http://www.wfu.edu/~macoskjc  At this web site you can find answers to exercises and full solutions to HW (after the HW has been submitted). 
Text: Modern Thermodynamics by Kondepudi and Prigogine (1998, John Wiley, New York) 
Syllabus: 	Chapters 1 - 9 and parts of chapter 10 Basic kinetics theory and additional topics in statistical mechanics.
Grade based on:			        Points 
Test #1	15 
Test #2	15 
Test #3	20* 
Final (Comprehensive) 		35 
Homework	15 
*5 points will be based on proposal for final projects.  Grades on these projects will replace one test score.  Reading quizzes will replace up to 10 points on the Final.

Tentative schedule for tests and final: 
Test 1: 4 Feb. (Fri) Chapters 1 – 2 and kinetic theory.
Test 2: 4 Mar. (Fri) Chapters 3 – 6.
Test 3: 4 Apr. (Mon) Chapters 7 – 9 topics in kinetics.

Final: 9:00 am, May 5 (Thursday) Comprehensive Exam. 
Remarks on tests: 
.	• Any changes in test scores should be done within a week after the graded tests are returned. 
.	• All final answers in the tests must be in a box, unless the answer is descriptive. 
.	
Week by week schedule

Date	Monday		(Wednesday)		Friday
1/10	No school	Chp 1.1-3
1/17	MLK day	Chp 1.4 Kinetic handout 
1/24	Chp 2.1-3 HW1 due	Chp 2.4-5
1/31	Chp 3.1-2 HW2 due	Test 1
2/7	Chp 3.3-8	Chp 4.1-4 HW3 due
2/14	Chp 5.1-3 HW4 due	Chp 5.4-6
2/21	Chp 6.1-2a HW5 due	Chp 6.2b-3
2/28	Chp 7.1-3 HW6 due	Test 2	
3/7	Spring Break	Spring Break
3/14	Chp 7.4-5	HW7(Weds)	Chp 8.1-3
3/21	Chp 8.3-5	HW8(Weds)	Good Friday
3/28	Chp 9.1-5	HW9(Weds)	Review
4/4	Test 3 (Proposal Due)	Chp 10.1-2 and additional topics
4/11	Chp 10.3-4 and additional topics	1st Presentations
4/18	2nd Presentations	3rd Presentations
4/25	Review HW10 due           Final on the following Thursday		

Homework problems

Chp 1: 1,2,3,5,7,8
Chp 2: 2,5,7,10,11,14,“lab”  (equiv. of heat and work)
Chp 3: 1,2,5,6,8,9
Chp 4: 1,2,3,4,5,“lab”
Chp 5: 4,5,7,11,12,13
Chp 6: 2,3,6,7,8,10
Chp 7: 1,3,5,6,10,11
Chp 8: 1,4,8,9,15,17
Chp 9: 1,2,3,6,7,9
Chp 10: 1,3,4,5,6,8

Test details

Test 1: 15 problems
4 van der Waals
3 Kinetic theory
7 Chp 2

Test 2/3: 15 problems

Final: 35 problems including six from student presentations
Possible presentation topics

1.    Perpetual motion machines: outright fraud or inspired invention? 
2.    Thermodynamics of the speed of sound. 
3.    Bose-Einstein condensation. There have been a number of exciting new experimental results in the last 4 years. See Physics Today or Nature or Physical Review Letters.
4.   Thermodynamics of nano-particles (Nature 384, 621(1997)).
5.   Cooling gases with a “optical molasses”(Stephen Chu, Wm. Phillips, Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel prize, 1997)
6.   Critical phenomena and critical-point fluctuations
7.   Rubber elasticity and the configurational entropy of polymers; stretching DNA .
8.   Brownian motion
9.   Simulate the MB velocity distribution for an ideal gas. 
10. Fluctuations in the pH of a cell because of its small volume.
11. Thermal fluctuations and the precision of scanning-probe microscopy.
12. Heat pumps
13. Refrigeration based on isentropic cooling
14. Liquifaction of oxygen and of air.
15. Why you need a turbocharger on your next car. 
16. Osmotic pressure and the flow of fluids between capillaries and tissues.