P310/510 Environmental
Fall 2008
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A quantitative application of physics to the problems of production and use of energy and the consequent environmental issues. The Course: P310/P510 When and Where: Fall 2008 The Instructor: |
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Goals of the course: During the fall of 2005 the U.S. Federal Government passed into law a new National Energy Policy, a piece of legislation that sets both the tone and the direction of energy use in this country. With increases in world population and in per capita energy use, we must understand the physics of energy and the consequences of our uses of this energy. Avoiding serious problems both at the global level (acid rain, and global climate change) and at the local level (urban air and water pollution) places great demands on all of us. Scientists and educators are on the front line in coming to grips with these problems. Solving environmental problems is essentially always an interdisciplinary effort and the discipline of physics is a major player in this effort. As with most problems of science, a quantitative understanding is essential to their resolution. Environmental Physics P310/P510 is designed to give students such a quantitative understanding.
For Undergrads: Environmental Physics P310 is appropriate both for majors such as SPEA, Geology, Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science, and for Physics Majors. Students of Science Education also find this course to be of great value because of the direct links between the basic science and real-world problems. For physics majors this course provides a wealth of applications of the theoretical laws of physics to these very real and demanding problems of the environment. For students outside of physics, the course will broaden their base of attack strategies for this complex array of problems.
For Graduate Students: Environmental Physics P510 is designed specifically
for graduate students outside of Physics.
The course requirements are identical to P310 with the exception that the final
presentation is accompanied by a 10 page research paper on the same
topic. In recent years graduate students in Education
have found this course most useful. The course has also been offered as a
distance learning course for students who are not on the
Prerequisites for P310/P510 Environmental Physics: Students will have taken a minimum of a semester of elementary physics at the level of P201 or P221, and a semester of calculus at the level of M119 or M211.
The Content of the Course: Environmental Physics P310/510 divides itself into four energy related areas, the identification of our energy resources, the conversion of energy from less useful to more useful forms, the utilization of energy, and finally, the environmental consequences of our energy use. We list these here with example sub topics.
I. Identification of our energy resources:
- Fossil fuels, methane
hydrates, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal
- Nuclear, solar and
tidal energies
II. Energy Conversion Processes:
- The first and second laws
of thermodynamics.
- The generation of heat from fuels, geothermal, nuclear fission, nuclear
breeders, nuclear fusion, solar thermal processes.
- Heat pumps, refrigerators, internal combustion engines, turbine engines.
- Photovoltaics, magneto-hydrodynamics, battery
development.
- Heat management with cogeneration, and waste heat disposal.
III. Energy Utilization:
- Energy transmission,
superconductivity.
- Efficient use of energy in industry, transport and heating.
IV. Environmental consequences of energy
use:
- Global climate change.
- Tropospheric and stratospheric ozone.
- The physics of El Nino.
- Air and water pollution.
- Nuclear radiation.
- Heat and micro climate.
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Physics Minor with an environmental concentration: A physics minor requires a total of 18 credit hours including the 10 hour introductory sequence in Physics (P201-P202 or P221-P222). An additional 8 hours required for the minor may be satisfied by taking, for example: P301 Modern Physics (3 cr) |
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