Physics 351    Thermal Physics      Spring 2019

General:  “Thermal Physics” is an introduction to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.  Three model systems, namely, an ideal gas, an Einstein solid, and a two-state paramagnet, will be used as examples to introduce and illustrate various thermodynamic concepts.  The course will begin with the review of some of the familiar concepts related to the conservation of energy (the first law) as applied to thermodynamics.  Quantities such as temperature (T), internal energy (U), work (W) and heat (Q) will be introduced.  Then, the idea of accessible states, multiplicity (Ω) and entropy (S) will be introduced.  The connection between the multiplicity and the second law of thermodynamics will be established.  Precise relation between temperature and entropy will be given by considering interactions between two macroscopic systems.  The first and second laws are then applied to the discussion of engines and refrigerators.  Phase transitions and equilibrium between states of matter will be the next main topic.  Finally, introductions to classical Boltzmann statistics and quantum statistics wrap up the course.

The tentative outline given above will follow in order of the topics given in the textbook except 1.7, 5.5, 5.6, Sommerfeld expansion in 7.3, 7.5 and chapter 8.  Class periods will be used for lectures, discussions and example problems.  An approximate schedule is shown below.  Read the relevant contents before coming to class.  Lecture notes will be posted after each lecture. Homework assignments will be announced on the course home page.  It will be your responsibility to check the home page regularly.  The assignments will be collected and graded.  There will be one mid-term and one final exam.

Grades are available on Gradebook.You need your Rutgers NetID and password to login. To accommodate the possibility that you have a legitimate reason to have missed an assignment, your lowest homework score will be dropped, i.e. only 11 highest homework scores will be counted toward your final grade. Therefore, there is NO makeup for homework assignments.

A useful page for Binomial distribution.

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Lecture Date
 Topic
 Ch.
 HW
 HW Solution

1 (pdf)

1/24 Th

Introduction, Temperature, Ideal gas law, Kinetic theory of Ideal Gas, Degree of freedom, Elements of Quantum mechanics

1.1-1.3, Appendix A



2 (pdf)

1/28 M

The 1st law of thermodynamics, Quasi-static processes of Ideal gas

1.4-1.6



3 (pdf)

1/31 Th

Enthalpy, Combinatorics, Probability and Multiplicity 

2.1, 3.3

HW1

HW1

4 (pdf)

2/4 M

2-state paramagnet and Einstein solids

2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 3.2



5 (pdf) 2/7 Th Entropy, temperature, and the 2nd and 3rd Laws 2, 3
 HW2 HW2

6 (pdf)

2/11 M

Multiplicity and Entropy of monatomic Ideal Gas

2.5-2.6



7 (pdf)

2/14 Th

Chemical potential and Thermodynamic Identities

3.4-3.6

HW3

HW3

8 (pdf)

2/18 M

Systems with a “Limited” Energy Spectrum

3.3



9

2/21 Th

Review Ch. 1-3, practice exam I

 solution

HW4

HW4


2/25 M

Midterm I

solution


Midterm I

10 (pdf)

2/28 Th

Ideal Heat Engine and Refrigerators (Carnot cycle)

4.1,4.2




3/4 M

Cancelled





3/7 Th

recitation


HW5

HW5

11 (pdf)

3/11 M

Steam Engine, Kitchen refrigerator, toward absolute zero

4.3, 4.4



 12 (pdf)

3/14 Th

Free Energy as a Force toward Equilibrium and as available Work

5.1,5.2



Spring Break

13 (pdf)

3/25 M

Phase transformation of pure substance, van der Waals Gas model

 5.3

HW6

HW6


3/28 Th

recitation  practice exam II

solution



14 (pdf)

4/1 M

Phase transformation of mixtures, Review of Ch. 4-5

4,5

HW7

HW7


4/4 Th

Midterm II

solution

15 (pdf)

4/8 M

Boltzmann Statistics and Canonical Ensembles

6.1, 6.2



16 (pdf)

4/11 Th

Continuous Spectrum, Density of States, and  Equipartition

6.3-6.7, 7.3



17 (pdf)

4/15 M

Gibbs factor, Grand canonical ensemble, Grand Free energy

7.1, 7.2

HW8

HW8

18 (pdf)

4/18 Th

Fermion and Boson gases

7.2



19 (pdf)

4/22 M

Degenerate Fermi Gas & Bose-Einstein Condensation

7.3, 7.6

HW9

HW9

20 (pdf)

4/25 Th

Bose-Einstein Condensation & Blackbody Radiation

7.4, 7.6




4/29 M

recitation, Practice final exam


HW10

HW10

21 (pdf)

5/2 Th

Blackbody Radiation

7.4


22
 5/6 M
 Overview, Practice final solutions 6,7 HW11 HW11

 

5/13 M

Final exam, 8-11 AM, at PLH



Final

Extra readings: