Physics 176 --- Thermal Physics -- Spring 1999

This is the web page for the Spring 1999 course.

The Spring 2000 course will be taught by a different professor and may be structured differently.

Contact Information

Professor: Joshua Socolar, (Home Page)
Telephone: (919) 660-2557
Office Hours: Monday afternoons, 2:30-5:00, Room 204D, Physics Bldg
socolar@phy.duke.edu
Teaching Assistant: Michael Gehm (Home Page)
Telephone: (919) 660-25

mgehm@phy.duke.edu

Texts

Kittel and Kroemer, "Thermal Physics" (Primary textbook, required)
Reif, "Fundamentals of statistical physics" (On reserve in MP Library)
Assorted seminal papers. (Some will be distributed in class. Students will find others in the library.)

Syllabus

Homework

Homework will be due at the beginning of class each Thursday.
Most homework assignments will consist of 5 to 10 problems to be written up individually. Communication between students about problems is encouraged, but each student must write up the results separately.
NB: Some homework assignments will not follow the traditional physics problem-solving format. Short essays on various topics requiring library research may be assigned.

Exams

There will be two midterm exams. Each will be a take home, closed book exam, with a page of formulae provided.
The final exam will be held at the officially scheduled time and will consist of a short closed book section followed by two problems for which Kittel and Kroemer may be consulted.

Grading

Homeworks -- 10 assignments worth 60 pts each.
Midterms -- 2 exams worth 100 pts each.
Final -- worth 200 pts.