PHYS 310: Thermodyanmics and Kinetic Theory

Location

SAB 4-36

Time

TR 930-1050 (Fall Term)

SPOT: Course Feedback

Please take the time to give feedback on the course by going to the SPOT survey at https://ualberta.bluera.com

Teaching delivery methods

Lectures will be given in person.

Grade break-down

Assignments 30%, Midterm Exam 35%, Final Exam 35%

Assignments

There will be 5 assignments, each worth 6% of the final grade.
(total of assignments worth 30% final grade).

Assignments should be submitted into the box marked PHYS310 opposite CCIS L2-041.

Late assignments are not accepted. They must be handed in before the time and date indicated on the assignment (typically Wednesdays at 4pm).

Assignment questions and their solutions will appear below as the course progresses.

Assignment 1 will be due before 4pm on Wednesday, September 17.
Here are the solutions.
Assignment 2 will be due before 4pm on Wednesday, October 1.
Here are the solutions.
Assignment 3 will be due before 4pm on Wednesday, October 15.
Here are the solutions.
Assignment 4 will be due before 4pm on Wednesday, November 19.
Here are the solutions.
Assignment 5 will be due before 4pm on Wednesday, December 3.
Here are the solutions.
(Note: after being graded, the marked assignments will be put in a box outside CCIS 3-269. An email will be sent to the class when this is done ... likely before Friday, December 12).

Midterm

In class 9:30-10:50am on Tuesday, October 28 in SAB 4-36
(worth 35% final grade)

Topics to be covered by midterm

Everything up to and including page 44 of the lecture notes, as well as p 48 on calculating entropy.
(You do not need to know Helmholtz and Gibbs free energies, Maxwell relations, or the reciprocal and cyclical relations.)

Aids you can bring to the midterm

Calculators will NOT be needed for the midterm.
You may bring one 8 1/2 X 11 ``cheat sheet''. On this you may write any definitions, formulae or constants you like on both sides of the page.
NOTE: the back page of the midterm will have this formula sheet
Also, the second last page of the midterm will be blank, and can be used for rough work or overflow of solutions.

Midterm preparation

You can test your preparation by doing this practise midterm, and checking your answers against its solutions.

The midterm

You can now see the midterm questions and its solutions.

Exam

1:00pm - 4:00pm, Tuesday, December 16. in CCIS 1-160
(worth 35% final grade)

Deferred exam 1pm-4pm, Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

Topics to be covered by exam
The exam will have 6 questions covering the material in chapters 1 - 10 of the lecture notes. (Not chapter 11 on Boltzmann statistics.) Essentially this is the material on which assignments 1 - 5 are based.

Provided tools

Attached to the back of the exam will be two pages of handy constants and formulae.
During the exam, you may (carefully!) remove these two pages of formulae.
Also, the third last page of the exam will be blank, and can be used for rough work or overflow of solutions.

Aids you can bring to the exam

Calculator (but not on a smartphone)
Two 8 1/2 X 11 ``cheat sheets''. For example, you may reuse the cheat sheet you used on the midterm and bring in a second sheet with formulae from the second half of the course. In general, you may write any definitions, formulae or constants you like on both sides of each page.

Final exam preparation: You can practice by doing this sample exam and then look at its solutions.

Syllabus

Much of the information here is summarized in the syllabus. This also points to additional university learning, support and ethics resources/guidelines.

Extra Help

Office hours will be set by appointment.
To make an appointment, send an email request to bruce.sutherland-AT-ualberta.ca (replace -AT- with @ in address) with suggested meeting times during the next working day. (Note that I teach 3 courses TR, so scheduling those days is more limited.)

Alternately, I will be available to answer questions during breaks in class or immediately after lectures.

Course Outline

Temperature: heat, work, and the first law of thermodynamics; entropy and the second law, enthalpy, Helmholtz and Gibbs free energy; thermodynamic equilibrium criteria; Maxwell's relations, phase transitions; elementary kinetic theory of gases

Textbook

There is no required textbook for the course.

The course will be taught from the lecture notes (see below).

Additional Resources

You may wish to refer to the following textbooks for additional aid:

Thermodynamics, Statistical Thermodynamics, and Kinetics, T. Engel and P. Reid, Pearson
An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Daniel V Schroeder, Addison-Wesley Longman

Lecture Notes

The course will be taught from the lecture notes below:

Supplemental

YouTube video showing supercritical fluid (experiment at 3 minute mark)
The equation of state of seawater
A Temperature Sounding, 6am, Oct 1, 2024
A "skew T - ln P" chart
today's "skew T - ln P" chart. (For plot, under "Type of Plot", click on GIF: Skew-T. Then click on WSE on map, which is the Stony Plain sounding.)
Table of values of integrated Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution

Prerequisites and co-requisites

Prerequisites: one of PHYS 124,144 or EnPh 131; and one of PHYS 126, 146, 181 or 130.

Pre- or Co-requisite: MATH 209 or MATH 215 or MATH 315 or MATH 317 or MA PH 351 or equivalent.

Announcements

Bruce Sutherland's home page
Department of Physics home page
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences home page