Physics 410-01
Spring 2012
Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
MWF 8:15AM – 9:20 PM
Instructor:
Room OWS 165A
Dr. Richard A. Thomas
Office: OWS 162
Phone: 2-5212
email: rathomas1@stthomas.edu
Office Hours: I have scheduled office hours MW 1230-0130. You can also schedule an appointment with me, or
simply stop by my office unannounced. I will never be in on Tuesdays, but I will usually be here Thursdays. When
I am here, though, my door is always open, so please feel free to stop by whenever.
Text: Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics by Ashley H. Carter
I will cover some things in class not contained in our textbook which you will be responsible for on tests. There will
also be things in the text not covered in this course.
Tests (70%): There will be four exams during the semester (including the final). Consider each exam to be cumulative,
because newer material builds on material covered previously.
Tests must be taken at the scheduled time.
Requests to reschedule or make up exams or labs for non-emergency personal reasons will be declined. Do not
make advance travel commitments with the expectation that such requests will be granted. Permission to take an
exam at other than the scheduled time to accommodate college activities will be at the discretion of the instructor,
and must be taken earlier than the scheduled date/time.
Qualified students with documented disabilities who may need classroom accommodations should make an
appointment with the Enhancement Program – Disability Services office. Appointments can be made by calling
651-962-6315.You may also make an appointment in person in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center, room 119.
For further information, you can locate the Enhancement Program on the web at
http://www.stthomas.edu/enhancementprog/.
Homework (30%): Homework assignments will be given at the beginning of nearly every class period. Doing the
homework is crucial to learning the material. I encourage you to ask many questions about homework – both to me
and to your classmates – and I encourage you to work in groups. Solutions will be posted on the course web site
after they are due. Homework assignments are due two class periods after they are assigned. You will get 10 points
per assignment, with half of the points going towards effort. So in order to insure you get partial credit, turn in ALL
of your work on a problem even if you don’t get the answer. If you turn in no work on a particular problem, you
will get a zero for it. Assignments turned in up to one class period late can get no better than ½ credit.
Course Web site: http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/physics/academics/410/spr%202012/hw410s12thomas.htm
This contains our syllabus, a list of topics covered in class, homework solutions (posted after it is due), future
homework assignments, and course schedule. Please bookmark this and check it often, as I will put class
announcements there as well.
Honor Code: In the process of conducting scientific work it is essential that an attitude of trust and honesty is common
to all participants. In the Physics Department we have an honor code. This means that we trust you. For example,
you are free to leave the room during exams without asking me first. We take our honor code very seriously, so a
breach of this trust has severe consequences. Cheating–in any form–will be dealt with according to the University’s
Academic Integrity Policy. More significantly, cheating would damage the trust I have in you. Don’t jeopardize
this trust. Keep in mind that I respect you as individuals, and I respect the effort you put into the class–regardless of
your grade.
Approximate Grading Guidelines: Technically, I do not have a fixed grading scale. At the end of the semester, I list
everyone’s course score out of 100 from top to bottom and draw the A/A-, A-/B+, B+/B, etc., lines in big gaps
between adjacent scores. This way, there are no borderline cases. I never put the border between an A- and a B+
higher than 90%, and so far I have never found it necessary to put it any lower than 87.5%. So if you want to assure
yourself of at least an A-, aim for a course total above 90%. On the other end of things, I have never given a passing
grade for a course point total less than 50% of the maximum. Midterm grades, however, are assigned according to a
strict 90-100 = A, 80-90 = B, 70-80 = C, etc., scale. With each test you get back, you will be given two scores: one
for that test, and one that indicates your current course score out of 100.
Disclaimer: This syllabus and the following class schedule are subject to change as the semester progresses.
TENTATIVE Course Schedule
DATE
JAN
30
1
3
6
8
10
13
FEB
15
17
20
22
24
27
29
2
5
7
9
12
14
MAR 16
19
21
23
26
28
30
2
4
6
9
11
13
APR
16
18
20
23
25
27
30
2
4
7
MAY
9
11
14
15
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
T
CLASS TOPIC
Course Intro
Ch. 11: Kinetic Theory of Gases (skip section 11.2)
Ch. 11: more kinetic theory--equipartition theorem, specific heat
Ch. 11: derive Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function, averages of v and v2
Ch. 11: mean free path, collision frequency,
Ch. 3: first law, work for ideal gas processes
Ch 1 (very quickly); Ch. 2: van der Waals eqn of state
Ch 2: finish; Ch 3: expansion/compression of solids, exact vs. inexact differentials
Ch 3: “configurational” vs. dissipative work; Ch 4: enthalpy
Ch 4: Enthalpy;
Ch 5: 1 st Law and Cycles
EXAM #1
Ch 5: More on cycles
Ch 6: 2 nd Law and Carnot cycle
Ch 6: Entropy, etc.
Ch 6: Clausius inequality, calculating ΔS
Ch 6: more on calculating ΔS, formal definition of temperature
Ch 7: TdS equations;
Ch 8: begin thermodynamic potentials
Ch 8: thermodynamic potentials
Ch 8: thermodynamic potentials; Ch 9: chemical potential
Ch 9: phase mixtures, mixtures of ideal gases EXAM 2?????
Ch 10: The 3rd Law and Its Consequences
Ch 12: macrostates vs. microstates, flipping coins, Stirling’s approximation
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
Ch 12: more on macrostates and entropy
Ch 12: entropy, indistinguishable particles, degenerate states
Ch 13: method of Lagrange multipliers, Boltzmann distribution.
Ch 13: finish Lagrange multipliers, Boltzmann distribution
Ch 12: density of states
NO CLASS – EASTER BREAK
NO CLASS – EASTER BREAK
Ch 13: Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics
Ch 13: more FD and BE stats, examples
Ch 13: minor review, spin system example
Ch 14: stat mech and the ideal gas
Ch 15: the diatomic ideal gas
EXAM #3???
Ch 16: phonons in solids, Einstein model
Ch 16: phonons in solids, DeBye model
Ch 17: intro to thermodynamics of magnetism
Ch 17: more magnetism thermodynamics, some review
The Ising model and criticality (not covered in book)
TBA
Ch 18: blackbody radiation
Ch 19: Fermi gases
Ch 19: Fermi gases, white dwarfs and neutron stars, course evals.
NO CLASS study day before finals
EXAM #4 (0800-1000 pm)