PHYS213
PHYS213 (University Physics: Thermal Physics) is a 2-credit hour, second half 8-week long, course that is required for ECE majors as a part of the Foundational Mathematics and Science requirement. It is also required for physics majors. It is offered in the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
Content Covered
- Equilibrium and entropy
- Heat and temperature
- Ideal gases
- Heat capacity
- Thermodynamic/Reversible processes
- Boltzmann factor
- Helmholtz/Gibbs free energy
PHYS213 is the introduction to thermodynamics for ECE majors. Being only 8 weeks long, the course does not go too in depth about most topics, but most ECE majors do not need to know more than the cursory knowledge provided.
Prerequisites
The official prerequisites for PHYS213 are PHYS211 and credit or concurrent registration in MATH241. There is almost no direct overlap in content between the physics courses, and very little calculus, in general, is used.
When to Take It
ECE majors typically take PHYS213 and PHYS214 during the same semester after taking PHYS212. The two courses are designed to be taken in the same semester and are in opposite halves, so it ends up filling roughly the same amount of time as a normal 4 credit hour, with the content changing halfway through.
Course Structure
PHYS213 holds 2 50-minute lectures per week, with prelecture readings and smartphysics checkpoints to complete before each lecture. Participation in lectures is tracked using iClickers, and the attendence grades for 5 of the 15 lectures can be dropped. Additionally, in place of having lectures on fridays, students have the option to follow along with videos working through problems relevant to the lectures. Participation with the weekly videos is not tracked. The prelectures and checkpoints are where students will do most of the learning, with the lectures being mainly for reexplaination and clarification.
Homework is assigned after each lecture in smartPhysics (free for PHYS213). The homework for each week's lectures are typically due at the same time early during the following week.
There are 2 midterm exams and 1 final exam, all taken through Prarielearn at the CBTF. A few practice exams are available on Prairielearn.
There are 3 bi-weekly labs, each 2 hours long, in which students work in groups to test equations and relationships learned in the lectures.
There are 7 weekly discussions. These are extremely helpful for getting detailed explanations and clarification from the TAs. Also, they are graded solely on participation, not correctness.
Instructors
Most recently, this course has been taught by Professors Cohen and Mahmood.
Course Tips
The key to this course is the equation sheet. Learn how to use all the equations and the homework/exams should be fairly simple. There are also provided practice exams released before the real thing. They are usually very similar to the actual exam, so they are the best tool to study.
The discussions are extremely helpful in understanding and mastering the concepts. The worksheets will go step by step in solving similar problems on the exam. Completing and fully understanding the discussion worksheets is highly recommended for success in this course.
Life After
Students who wish to go more in depth into thermal physics should take the undergraduate course in statistical mechanics, PHYS427 - Thermal and Statistical Physics.
Infamous Topics
- Entropy: It is a very strange concept, so reading the prelecture a few times is recommended.
Resources
The course website can be found near the bottom of this page.