METEO 431

ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS

- METEO 431: ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS -

Fall 2020

INSTRUCTOR:
Jerry Y. Harrington
OFFICE: 517 Walker Building
PHONE: 863-1584
EMAIL: jyh10@psu.edu

WEB: Course Content on Canvas
OFFICE HOURS:

  • 4:30 - 5:30 pm Mon. Zoom, Meeting ID: 990 0152 3170
  • 4:30 - 6:00 pm Wed. Zoom, Meeting ID: 982 5258 2200
  • 3:00 - 4:30pm Thurs. Zoom, Meeting ID: 988 0015 8872

TEACHING ASSISTANT:
Karly Reimel
EMAIL: kjr50@psu.edu 
OFFICE HOURS: 9:30 - 11:00am Mon, Wed Zoom Meeting ID:  945 4573 0645 

CLASS MEETINGS:
026 Hosler Building
1:25 - 2:15 pm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 

PREREQUISITES:

  • METEO 101 or 201 and PHYS 212
  • METEO 300 (Concurrent)

COURSE TEXTBOOKS (Recommended):

  • Atmospheric Thermodynamics by C.F. Bohren and B. Albrecht 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

METEO 431 is a 3-credit lecture course that is designed to provide you with basic knowledge of thermodynamics and how it is applied to the atmosphere. 

GRADING:

  • Exam 1 (Tuesday, September 22): 25%
  • Exam 2 (Thursday, October 22): 25%
  • Exam 3 (Thursday, November 19): 25%
  • Homework: 25%

Location of Exams: On-line, 6 to 8 pm on specified date. Webcam is required. 

COURSE OUTLINE

  1. OVERVIEW 
    1. Atmospheric Context [Sect. 1.1, 1.7, 2.6]
    2. Basic Concepts [Sect. 2.1]

  2. ENERGY 
    1. Mechanical Systems [Sect. 1.2-1.3]
    2. Interaction Energies [Sect. 1.4, 1.6]
    3. Internal Energy and the First Law [Sect. 1.8]

  3. GASES
    1. Gas Laws [Sect. 2.1, 2.2]
    2. Kinetic Theory [Sect. 2.1, 2.3-2.5, 5.4]
    3. Gaseous Mixtures [Sect. 2.7-2.8, 3.7]

  4. HEAT CAPACITIES AND ENTHALPY
    1. Thermodynamic Functions [Sect. 3.1]
    2. Specific Heats [Sect. 3.2, 3.6-3.7]
    3. Enthalpy [Sect. 3.2]

  5. THE SECOND LAW 
    1. Spontaneous Change [Sect. 4.1]
    2. Cyclic Processes [Sect. 4.4]
    3. Entropy [Sect. 4.1-4.3]

  6. MULTIPHASE SYSTEMS
    1. Phase Transformations [Sect. 5.1-5.2]
    2. Free Energy [Sect. 5.3, 5.6-5.8]
    3. Phase Diagrams [Sect. 5.5]

  7. ATMOSPHERIC APPLICATIONS
    1. Thermodynamic Diagrams [Sect. 6.6]
    2. Processes [Sect. 3.3-3.5, 6.3-6.4, 6.9]
    3. Soundings and Stability [Sect. 3.5, 6.1-6.2, 6.5, 6.7]
  • [Information in the brackets to the right of each topic identifies where the subject matter can be located in Bohren & Albrecht’s textbook.] 

- RECOMMENDED BOOKS -

Earth & Mineral Sciences Library - 105 Deike Building.

Title Author(s) Call Number

  • Atmospheric Thermodynamics Iribarne and Godson QC880.4 T5I74 1981
  • Thermodynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans Curry and Webster QC880.4 T5C87 1999
  • Atmospheric Science Wallace and Hobbs QC861.2 W34 1977
  • Physical Chemistry Atkins QD453.2 A88 1994b
  • Understanding Thermodynamics van Ness QC311.V285 1983

CLASSROOM POLICIES AND OTHER NOTES
COURSE PHILOSOPHY:
“Do not worry too much about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you mine are still greater.” - Albert Einstein

“I see and I forget, I hear and I forget, I do and I understand.” - Confucius

If you merely read books and listen to others, you will never really learn anything new. New knowledge is only truly gained by thinking and working things through for yourself. The difference is like that between one who simply reads about an experience and one who lives it.

– Schopenhaur's Aphorisms (Paraphrased).

“The main job of a teacher is to free the student from the teacher” - Zen Buddhist Saying 

COURSE EXPECTATIONS:

It is expected that you have a good understanding of mathematics (calculus I and II) and physics (mechanics). These are implied prerequisites for the course. Your ability to understand the material in this course depends critically on how well you learned your math and physics.

I expect active participation from all students in the course each and every week. I also expect each student to keep up with the material on her/his own. This includes reviewing lecture notes, reading assigned material, and reading material from books in the library. It is never possible to fully understand the material in a course simply by attending lectures. It is best to think of me as a guide through the relevant material, but it is you who must do all the hard work that goes along with the learning process. Like anything else, what you get out of this course depends on what you put into, and depends on your attitude as well. Working hard, thinking a lot, and maintaining a positive perspective are the best ways to gain the most from this course!

COURSE LETTER GRADES: I assign letter grades based on the class statistics. I nearly always use the mean of the final score distribution as lowest B- grade.  In most prior classes, the mean has usually fallen around 76 to 80, but not always. Breaks between letter grades are assigned based on the standard deviation in the final score distribution. I generally add the mean plus the standard deviation to find the lowest A- and the mean minus the standard deviation is generally the lowest C.  Divisions among specific letter grades (such as B-, B and B+) are generally determined by dividing the grade range into three equal parts. Scores below a 50 automatically earn an F grade in this course.