Physics 3070: Energy and the Environment, Sp 2005
Lectures: Prof. Steven Pollock. MWF 10-10:50, Duane G125
Phone: 492-2495 Office: F419 in the Gamow Tower
Office Hours: MWF after class, and Monday 2-3:30 in F419 (for the time being, we'll see if these work well!) Other times by app't.
(Note! Office hours may be shifted, early in the semester, always see announcements for details)Problem Solving Session: Tues 3:30-5, in the "back end" of the help room (G2B90 in the basement of the physics building) with Chris Rosen.
Email/Electronic Office Hours: Steven.Pollock@Colorado.Edu (anytime)
Course Website: www.colorado.edu/physics/phys3070
Additional information and updates will be posted here. Check it periodically!
Physics 3070 covers many important aspects of energy - what it is, how it is produced and consumed, and ways in which it impacts society and the environment. Our principal aim is to develop a quantitative physical understanding of the many issues and problems involved with the generation, storage, transport, and usage of various forms of energy in our technological society. We will cover fossil fuels and hydropower, nuclear, solar, and wind energy, and issues related to energy conservation in everyday life. Finally, we will consider the effects of waste products associated with energy generation and usage on e.g. global warming, ozone depletion, and pollution of the atmosphere.
Required Texts: "Energy and the Environment " - Ristinen and Kraushaar.
A copy of the text will be on reserve at the Math/Physics Library in Duane Physics G-140.
There are many other sources of information about energy and the environment available!
A copy of "Energy and Problems of a Technical Society" (also by Kraushaar and Ristinen) will also be on reserve in the library, it is an earlier version of our text with lots of extra details. Ditto for "Energy" by G. Aubrecht, another useful reference.
Prereq.’s: No background in physics is required. Basic math and logical thinking skills, enthusiasm, curiosity, and an open mind will be helpful!
Reading is an essential part of 3070. Reading the text before class is very important. Class time is to clarify your understanding, to help you make sense of the material that you have already started thinking about outside of class. I will assume you have done the required readings in advance! Reading assignments will appear at each lecture for the coming class. (Extra readings, beyond the text, may be assigned from time to time.)
Class participation is another essential part of the course! This class is
intended to be engaging and supportive. You mustn't try to "hide" in the
back! Plan on attending and participating every day.
Online/preclass questions: Every Monday before class, you will need to
complete a brief survey online. Some questions may be about upcoming
material which you aren't expected to know yet - it's a pretest to help me
target classes for that week more effectively. I will also always ask you
to come up with at least one question or comment you have about the
reading. Full credit is given merely for sincere participation in these (I
won't grade your answers, please just be honest!)
Homework
will be assigned (almost) every week on Wed, due one week later at the
start of class. Some homework problems will be handwritten "long answers".
(If you turn these in at the end of class Wed they will be accepted, but
your grade will be automatically reduced since we sometimes discuss
homework in class.) Others will be done on the CAPA (computer assisted
physics assignments) system:
www.Colorado.EDU/physics/CAPA/Cindex.html
(or from our main web page) I'm afraid late HW cannot be accepted,
since solutions will be posted. (However, I will drop one homework !) Some
homework will be calculations and analysis, some will be "information
lookup", others will involve short writing assignments. For CAPA problems,
you should work out the answers before you log on via the web to "hand it
in" . Each CAPA set is personalized (same problems, different numbers
/details). Advantages: you will have instant feedback on how well you are
doing and will have opportunities to change wrong answers without penalty.
You need a "pin" to sign on ( different each week!),but you can have the
system email this pin to you (go to the login page). Or, you can just pick
up your personal hard copy in the basement.
We encourage collaborative teamwork on homework, an essential skill in
science (and highly valued by employers!) Collaboration is critical to
anyone's success - most good ideas grow out of discussions with colleagues.
As you study together, try to help your partners get over confusions, ask
each other questions, critique each others homework. Teach each other
. You
will learn a lot!
Note: While collaboration is the rule in any technical
work, evaluations of individuals also play an important role. Exams will be
done without help from others. For all assignments, the work you turn in
must in the end be your own: in your own words, reflecting your own
understanding .
Plagiarizing classmates or other sources (e.g. web pages) without giving
proper credit is grounds for failing an assignment. It's fine to talk with
each other about how to do CAPA problems, but if this means giving (using)
a formula they (you) don't really understand just to punch numbers into, to
get credit - that's crossed a line... Please feel free to talk with me at
any time if you are unsure of what this means, or if it applies in any
given specific case!
40% (total) for exams (There are 2 midterms and a final, weighted equally. I will drop the lowest!)
24-25% for an in-depth collaborative term paper/final project (see below)
25% for homework (total, split appropriately between long answer and CAPA) (I'll drop one each of CAPA and long answer!)
5-6% for your daily in-class attendance and participation (see above. I'll drop three classes worth!)
5% for your weekly online participation (See above. I'll drop one!)
Clickers: will be used for attendance.
Please register your clicker
for this class: go to our
clicker info page
But also, clicker questions are pure
extra credit: they can reduce the total exam weight by up to 15% of the
exam total (i.e. up to 6% of your total grade. See
for
details)
Exams: are scheduled (in-class) Fri Feb 11, and Fri Mar 11. The final is scheduled Tues May 3, 1:30-4 PM. There will not be any makeup exams, you must be sure to be in class on those days! It is your responsibility to make sure you have no conflicts with these exams. Exams will be open book, and open notes(!) There will be an essay question given in advance (take home, honor system!) Exams are based on reading,and homework, as well as any material presented in lectures (including by guest speakers)
Students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities, must let me know early in the semester (1st two weeks) so that your academic needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office in Willard 322 (phone 303-492-8671)
Honor Code: The purpose of an Honor Code at the University of Colorado at Boulder is to secure an environment where academic integrity, and the resulting behavior, can flourish. The Honor Code recognizes the importance of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility and wishes these principles to be a defining part of the CU-Boulder campus. The Honor Code allows all students to have responsibility for, and the ability to attain, appropriate recognition for their academic and personal achievements. I'm a big fan of the CU honor code, and ask that everyone read and respect it! http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
Religious Obligations - Conflicts with Scheduled Exams, Assignments or Class Attendance: I will make every effort to accommodate all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or other required attendance, provided you notify me at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled conflict. The campus policy can be viewed at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html
Problem Solving Sessions and Help Room: The Physics Help Room (Duane G2B90) is open M-F 9-5, and you can go there to meet fellow students or ask TA's from other classes for help. Alas, it is often quite busy. We will staff our own problem solving sessions Tuesday 3:30-5 PM. Our Learning Assistant, Chris Rosen (an undergrad physics major) will be there at those times - his role is not to tell you how to do the problems (don't go there expecting him to provide you with answers to homework questions). He will be happy to facilitate your working with each other tohelp you figure these things out for yourself. I may join in some of those sessions too. My own office hours (Mon 2-3:30) will start off in my office, but if lots of people come we'll move down to the help room and make it another "problem solving session" too!
Some general rules: The rules in this list may seem rather harsh and arbitrary, but they are essential to maintaining the integrity of the course. There is a painful story behind every one of them. Although most of you will never come up against any of the rules, there are a handful of students each semester that just cannot seem to avoid them. These rules are primarily to prevent these students from obtaining an unfair advantage over the others in the class. If these rules are going to cramp your style, then this class is probably not for you.
Late homework will not count at all (I post solutions). Late pre-tests won't count either. (However, I do drop one of each!) All writing assignments have strict deadlines: every calendar day they are late will reduce the maximum available points for that assignment by 20%. (So after 5 days, turning them in still gets you a zero. Ouch! Please don't procrastinate!)
I will immediately fail any student who: submits for a grade work that is not their own or permits another student to do so/ submits for a re-grade any work that was modified after it was graded/ lies in an effort to improve their grade or to obtain any special consideration or exception from the normal class work schedule.
Any exam submitted for re-grading will be entirely re-graded and the final score can go up or down.
There will be no possible "individual" extra credit work other than what has been outlined in the syllabus or web page.
Permission for exceptions from the normal class work schedule must be requested in advance. There will be no exceptions after the fact.
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