Welcome to the Spring 2012 version of CBE 246. This course focuses on the basic principles governing the equilibrium behavior of macroscopic systems, and applications to materials and processes of interest in modern chemical and biological engineering. In the first half of the course, we introduce the fundamental concepts: energy conservation in open and closed systems (First Law); temperature, entropy and reversibility (Second Law); thermodynamic potentials; criteria of equilibrium and stability; and introduction to the molecular basis of thermodynamics. These concepts are then applied to the analysis and solution of problems such as calculating the equilibrium composition of coexisting phases and reacting mixtures, or analyzing the thermodynamic efficiency of cooling and power generation cycles.
Albert Einstein wrote†: “A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different the kinds of things it relates, and the more extended is its area of applicability. Therefore, the deep impression which classical thermodynamics made upon me. It is the only physical theory of universal content concerning which I am convinced that, within the framework of applicability of its basic concepts, it will never be overthrown.” My goal in this course is to convey to you the same “deep impression” that the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics made on the young Einstein. I have benefited greatly from material developed by my predecessor in this course, Prof. Pablo Debenedetti.
Books and Notes
The course textbook is Essential Thermodynamics, by A.Z. Panagiotopoulos. Other useful books include Chemical, Biochemical, and Engineering Thermodynamics, 4th ed., by Sandler - an excellent reference book, covering most of the material of the course in great depth and providing many solved example problems, The Principles of Chemical Equilibrium, by Denbigh, and Molecular Driving Forces, by Dill and Bromberg. Copies of these books are on reserve at the Engineering Library; some copies of the main textbook are also available for circulation.
Assignments, Quizzes and Final
The grade for the course will be based on the weekly problem sets (35%), two in-class quizzes (35%) and the final (30%). Assignments are due Fridays at 4 pm (deliver to AZP's office, A317, under door if I am not there). Homework turned in late (over the weekend, slip under the door of A317) incurs a 30% grade penalty. The latest time that homework can be turned in is 4 pm Monday, at 50% penalty.
Homework you submit should reflect your own understanding of the material. Discussion of homework problems and exchange of ideas on solution strategies with fellow students is allowed and likely to be beneficial. Copying of other people's homework or submitting identical "collaborative" solutions is not allowed. Any external inputs used (e.g. online material) should be acknowledged. Also, assignment solutions, practice problems and other course materials are for your personal use only - they should not be shared with any others (now or in the future), or posted to any online site.
The various elements of the course are designed to play different roles. Lectures present the abstract concepts and provide foundation material. Precepts offer more practical "this is what you need to do" advice for the homework problems, which consist of a mix of simple and more challenging questions, some of which require numerical work (e.g.on Excel or MATLAB). The fast-paced, 50-minute quizzes require quick thinking about concepts (but not too many derivations and very little computation). The longer final (2.5 hours) may include longer derivations or numerical computations.
Web Site
The course syllabus and learning objectives are at paros/CBE246; course announcements are posted on Blackboard.
† Autobiographical Notes, page 32 in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, edited by P.A. Schilpp (Library of Living Philosophers, Evanston, Ill., 1949). Quoted in Thermodynamics in Einstein’s Thought, by Martin J. Klein, Science, 157, 509, 1967.