Energy and the Environment  

COURSE STRUCTURE:  

The object of this course is to provide the student with the scientific facts and technological foundation necessary to understand the effects of energy production and consumption on our society and environment.

Whereas this class is taught in the physics department (and does indeed cover a lot of physics),to give a balanced approach to the questions involved, one must also consider other areas such as economics, public policy, chemistry, geology, and biology. I personally view this class as an opportunity to discuss many important and difficult issues which society will have to confront in the near future. As such I hope to impart some information which will make you more informed voters and less susceptible to the hype of various special interest groups (ranging from power companies to environmental groups). In a class such is this, I believe that most students will tend to retain more of the qualitative information and will forget the quantitative material as fast as is possible. Hence, I strive to emphasize concepts rather than calculations. On the other hand, physics is inherently a quantitative field, and we will be doing many simple calculations involving proportions, ratios, percentages, graphs, estimating, rounding off and powers of ten. Some simple algebra will be used in derivations during lectures. A pocket calculator will prove to be extremely useful. This is not a hard core physics class and is not intended to turn you into budding young physicists. I hope that it piques your interest enough to go off and learn more.

The course consists of lectures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:00 to 12:50 PM in Moulton 210. The lectures will present the main ideas of the course and will include topics which deserve emphasis. Note, however, that physics is NOT a subject which can be learned simply by listening to lectures and/or reading books: you need to work things out for yourself! It is up to the student to take responsibility for doing the problems at the end of each chapter since they will not be collected. Similar questions are likely to show up on the exams.

There will be four hour long exams and a non-comprehensive final exam each worth 100 points. Your lowest score will be dropped. The exams will typically be 50 multiple choice questions. Make-up exams will only be given in cases of excused absences due to illness, serious illness or death in your immediate family, or other significant reasons. Make-up exams will typically be problems taken from other textbooks at the same level and may be more difficult than regular exams. Letter grades are not assigned on an individual exam, but will be determined only at the end of the course when all scores are in. There are no hard and fast letter grade boundaries (i.e. I do not grade on a strict percentage basis) nor is there a statistical formula used to determine grade boundaries (i.e. I do not grade on a curve). Instead, statistics are used as a guide to determine underlying standards. When needed, factors such as class participation, improvement, industriousness, etc. may be used in borderline cases. Statistics will be given on each exam so that you may estimate where you stand in relation to the rest of the class.

You may earn up to 3 extra credit points towards your final grade by bringing in current articles (newspaper, magazines, etc.) dealing with material which is covered in the course. ( 1 point per article). Do not turn in the original article. Photocopy it. Make sure you write the source of the information on the copy.

Practice exams and exam solutions will be available in the Physics Department Office (MLT 311).

You are encouraged to come for help or general discussion during office hours. If you cannot make the scheduled hours, you may make an appointment with me or stop by and try your luck.

PHYSICS 100, SPRING 1998TENTATIVE SYLLABUSNot all chapters will be covered completely. Other will be significantly supplemented from other resources.