This course stresses the use of science in a modern society. The course focuses on four topics:
- energy and fossil resources for energy;
- environmental problems of energy generation;
- nuclear energy; and
- energy alternatives.
The first three topics mesh together seamlessly; the fourth topic grows out of their discussion. The textbook for the course is Energy by G. Aubrecht (Prentice Hall, 1995), which is supplemented by readings from Scientific American.
This course is designed as a second reading course in the Physics Department. As such it focuses on the following skills:
- scientific reasoning,
- problem solving,
- outlining,
- summarizing, and
- presentation (oral and written).
The course is organized in the following fashion:
| 2 lecture periods/week |
varies, see schedule |
| 2 presentation or meeting periods/week |
see schedule |
| 1 test period/week |
see schedule |
| 8 final presentation periods |
last 2 weeks of the quarter, see schedule |
Lectures:
The material
discussed in the lectures is listed below. Each lecture is organized around the
corresponding chapter of Energy with the same (or similar)
title. You are responsible for all the material in the chapter whether or not it is
covered in the lecture:
|
| Lecture |
Chapter |
Topic(s) considered |
| I | 1, 2 | Introduction - Problems,
limits and estimates |
| II | 3 | Energy |
| III | 4 | How machines
use energy |
| IV | 5 | Consumption of
electrical energy |
| V | 6 | Production and
distribution of electrical energy |
| VI | 7 | Chemical energy;
heats of combustion |
| VII | 8 | Efficiency of
energy generation |
| VIII | 8 | Thermodynamics |
| IX | 8 | Thermodynamics |
| X | 9 | Environmental effects
of utilities |
| XI | 13 | Pollution from
fossil fuels |
| XII | 12 | Moving down the road
- effects of transportation |
| XIII | 24 | Conservation |
| XIV | 16 | Nuclear energy |
| XV | 17 | Energy from nuclear
reactions |
| XVI | 18 | Safety and nuclear
energy |
| XVII | 23 | Energy storage
and energy alternatives |
| XVIII | 25 | Recycling and
reuse |
Presentations:
During presentation days, students will present reports on one of the topics listed below. For these presentations, generally three students will form a group to present on a single topic. Each three-person group will be given roughly 21 minutes for the entire topic. In this case each member of the group should cover roughly 1/3 of the material of the topic in a 7 minute talk. Each student will present on two topics during the quarter. As part of the work for the presentation, each student is required to turn in an outline of the full topic and a 1 page executive summary of their talk. The presentation, the outline, and the summary will be graded.
The material for presentations forms an integral part of the course. In most cases
this material will only be covered in the presentations. The presentation topics are
listed below:
|
| Presentation | Topic(s) considered |
| 1 | Resources | - World Coal Production |
| 2 | | - World Oil Production |
| 3 | | - World Gas Production |
| 4 | | - Hydroelectric Power |
| 5 | Pollution | - The Greenhouse Effect |
| 6 | | - Ozone Depletion |
| 7 | | - Acid Rain |
| 8 | | - Indoor Air Pollution |
| 9 | Conservation | - In Transportation |
| 10 | | - Energy Efficient Buildings |
| 11 | | - Commercial and Industrial |
| 12 | | - Population Control |
| 13 | Alternatives | - Solar Energy |
| 14 | | - Wind Energy |
| 15 | | - Electric Cars |
| 16 | | - In Agriculture |
Meeting Periods:
Meeting periods allow students to discuss their work with each other
and with the Instructor. Each student is required to meet with the Instructor to
discuss their presentations before they present their work to the class. For this
meeting, students should come prepared with all their materials to give a practice
presentation.
Test Periods:
In addition to lectures, presentation, and meeting periods there is one test period per
week. The weekly test will consist of 10 questions from the material of that week. The
test will be graded on a P/F basis. To pass you must get 8/10 of the questions correct.
You may take the weekly test up to three times, each time you will receive a different
set of questions covering the same material. After three tries, you must speak
to the instructor before being given additional retakes. You may retake a weekly test
during any subsequent test period.