METEO 431 Harrington FA14

Atmospheric Thermodynamics MWF 12:20-1:10pm 12 Walker Building Instructor: Jerry Harrington TA: Steve Simon

METEO 431: ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS

Fall 2014
INSTRUCTOR: Jerry Y. Harrington
OFFICE: 513 Walker Building
PHONE: 863-1584
WEB: http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~harring
OFFICE HOURS: 4:00 – 5:30 pm Monday and Thursday

TEACHING ASSISTANT: Steve Simon
OFFICE:  405 Walker Building
OFFICE HOURS: 10:30am - Noon, Tuesday and Friday

CLASS MEETINGS:
12 Walker Building
12:20 – 1:10pm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Make-up Classes, Thursday 7 – 8 pm, Oct 7th and 28th  (Location to be determined)

PREREQUISITES: PHYS 212

COURSE TEXTBOOKS: Atmospheric Thermodynamics by C.F. Bohren and B. Albrecht

COURSE DESCRIPTION: METEO 431 is a 3-credit lecture course that is designed to provide you with basic knowledge of thermodynamics and how it is applied to the atmosphere.

GRADING:

  • Midterm 1 (Wednesday, Sept. 24, 6 – 8pm): 25%
  • Midterm 2 (Wednesday, Oct. 29, 6 – 8pm): 25%
  • Midterm 3 (Final Exam Period): 25%
  • Quizzes (every other Friday): 15%
  • Homework: 10%

Location of Midterm Exams: 529 Walker Building

CLASSROOM POLICIES AND OTHER NOTES

COURSE PHILOSOPHY:
“I see and I forget, I hear and I forget, I do and I understand.” - Confucius

If you merely read books and listen to others, you will never really learn anything new. New knowledge is only truly gained by thinking and working things through for yourself. The difference is like that between one who simply reads about an experience and one who lives it.
– Paraphrase of one of Schopenhaurs’ Aphorisms.

“The main job of a teacher is to free the student from the teacher” - Zen Buddhist Saying

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

  1. Students can demonstrate an ability to apply thermodynamic principles quantitatively to atmospheric problems (relate to program objectives 1 and 3)
  2. Students can demonstrate the use of thermodynamics equations in determining the thermal structure of basic atmospheric phenomena (relate to program objectives 2)

COURSE OUTCOMES:

  1. Students can demonstrate knowledge of how thermal energy and the first law of thermodynamics are applied to describe atmospheric thermal properties and structure (relate to program outcomes b)
  2. Students can demonstrate knowledge of how entropy and the second law of thermodynamics are applied to basic thermal problems (relate to program outcome b)
  3. Students can demonstrate knowledge of the process of phase change in atmospheric phenomena (relate to program outcomes b and c)
  4. Students can demonstrate an ability to analyze atmospheric soundings using a thermodynamic diagram (relate to program outcomes a, b, c, and d)

COURSE EXPECTATIONS:

It is expected that you have a good understanding of mathematics (calculus I and II) and physics (mechanics, electricity and magnetism). These are implied prerequisites for the course! Students with weak backgrounds in these fundamental disciplines are advised to either postpone enrollment in this course, or get up to speed now! Your ability to understand the material in this course depends critically on how well you learned your math and physics!

I expect active participation from all students in the course each and every week. I also expect each student to keep up with the material on her/his own. This includes reviewing lecture notes, reading assigned material, and reading material from the reserve books in the library. It is never possible to fully understand the material in a course simply by attending lectures. It is best to think of me as a guide through the relevant material, but it is you who must do all the hard work that goes along with the learning process. Like anything else, what you get out of this course depends on what you put into, and depends on your attitude as well. Working hard, thinking a lot, and maintaining a positive perspective are the best ways to gain the most from this course!

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses that may be grounds for failing an assignment, an exam, or even the course. Please review the College policies related to academic integrity on the web at : Earth and Mineral Sciences Academic Integrity Policy: http://www.ems.psu.edu/current_undergrad_students/academics/integrity_policy

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

The University provides resources and assistance to students with disabilities. Contact information for the Office of Disability Services may be found here: Contact information for the Office of Disability Services may be found here: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further information, please visit the Office for Disability Services Web site here: http://equity.psu.edu/ods.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you need to contact the disability services office for the University Park campus, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. See the following guidelines for more information: http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, the disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter.

EMERGENCIES AND WEATHER DELAYS:

Campus weather delays and emergencies are announced on Penn State News: http:/news.psu.edu/ and communicated to electronically through PSUAlert (Sign up at: https://psualert.psu.edu/psualert/).

 
Recommended Books: On 2-hour reserve in Earth & Mineral Sciences Library - 105 Deike Building. (Books I have found useful)

  • Atmospheric Thermodynamics (Iribarne and Godson) QC880.4 T5I74 1981
  • Thermodynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans (Curry and Webster) QC880.4 T5C87 1999
  • Atmospheric Science (Wallace and Hobbs) QC861.2 W34 1977
  • Physical Chemistry (Atkins) QD453.2 A88 1994b
  • Understanding Thermodynamics (Van Ness) QC311.V285 1983
  • Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Mechanics (Sears and Salinger) QC311 S42 1975

COURSE OUTLINE

  1. OVERVIEW
    • Atmospheric Context [Sect. 1.1, 1.7, 2.6]
    • Basic Concepts [Sect. 2.1] 
  2. ENERGY
    • Mechanical Systems [Sect. 1.2-1.3]
    • Interaction Energies [Sect. 1.4, 1.6]
    • Internal Energy and the First Law [Sect. 1.8]
    • Zeroth Law and Thermometry [Sect. 2.1]
  3. GASES
    • Gas Laws [Sect. 2.1, 2.2]
    • Kinetic Theory [Sect. 2.1, 2.3-2.5, 5.4]
    • Gaseous Mixtures [Sect. 2.7-2.8, 3.7]
  4. HEAT CAPACITIES AND ENTHALPY
    • Thermodynamic Functions [Sect. 3.1]
    • Specific Heats [Sect. 3.2, 3.6-3.7]
    • Enthalpy [Sect. 3.2]  
  5. THE SECOND LAW
    • Spontaneous Change [Sect. 4.1]
    • Cyclic Processes [Sect. 4.4]
    • Entropy [Sect. 4.1-4.3]I.       
  6. MULTIPHASE SYSTEMS
    • Phase Transformations [Sect. 5.1-5.2]
    • Free Energy [Sect. 5.3, 5.6-5.8]
    • Phase Diagrams [Sect. 5.5]
  7. ATMOSPHERIC APPLICATIONS
    • Thermodynamic Diagrams [Sect. 6.6]
    • Processes [Sect. 3.3-3.5, 6.3-6.4, 6.9]
    • Soundings and Stability [Sect. 3.5, 6.1-6.2, 6.5, 6.7]

[Information in the brackets to the right of each topic identifies where the subject matter can be located in Bohren & Albrecht’s textbook.]