WELCOME TO ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS 160!
Spring Quarter, 2007
Rm. Physics and Geology
12:10-1:30 Pm, Tu-Th Bainer 1128
Office Hours: W: 1-2, Th 11-12
Contents of Web Page
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.NEWS FLASH!!! Project 1 presentations shifted to May 1, Project 1 papers shifted to May 3, midterm shifted to May 8 -- corrections to follow in syllabus shortly.
- Sample midterm here and here (answers to the latter are here.
- Web directory with class Project 1 presentations
Scope and Purpose of Course
After years of prosperity and economic expansion, we suddenly face a world filled with crises, many related to energy and the environment. Global warming continues to be perceived as a looming problem, and recent observations suggest accelerated melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice packs. Early releases from the pending Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report indicate that the consensus of hundreds of leading climate scientists is that global warming is happening and it is due to us. Concerns are being raised about the viability of our fisheries and water supplies. While there are doubtless many reasons for the current war in Iraq, the fact that there are large reserves of oil beneath the desert soil is surely plays some role in our presence there. The Bush administration continues to push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil, claiming that a substantial fraction of our future energy needs can be satisfied in an environmentally sound manner, while critics charge this is false and that at most 6 months-two years of our oil appetite can be met by oil from the Refuge (while they have let go of efforts to maintain leases for off-shore drilling in California). Many believe that fossil fuels will be replaced by hydrogen in the future, and the Bush Administration has pushed for this in he form of the Freedom Car project, while Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana suggest we invest now in extracting natural gas and oil from our large coal reserves and Willie Nelson has started a company selling biodiesel fuel. But how close is a hydrogen or alternative fuel future?
Is there reason for hope? I believe the answer is YES! In this class, I plan to facilitate a critical look at the problems of the previous paragraph and more. For example, are there economically viable alternative energy sources now which are less polluting and more sustainable? Does meeting the challenge of global warming require that we wreck the US economy in the process? Have we ever successfully attacked a global environmental problem on an international level? Does the free market always offer the best solutions in the case of energy, or are cooperative, `socialistic' approaches like municipal utility districts viable alternatives? In addition, are there opportunities in the emerging alternative energy market for bright young people to make a career?
The news is full of discussion of topics like these in recent times. An informed citizenry should be able to appreciate the technical aspects of these topics as well as the economic, political, and environmental ramifications.
This course will use principles of the physical sciences to study the various sources and production methods for energy in our modern world as well as the environmental impacts of that usage. We will have an overarching theme of understanding global climate change (particularly global warming) to pull together the disparate topics in the class. The class content will guide students to adopt a ``systems'' approach to thinking about environmental problems, in which the interactions amongst the physical world, the biological world, the technological world, the political world, the economic world, and the realm of values all must be taken into account.
The physics, chemistry, and math content of the course will be fairly low and completely self contained, all at a level accessible to students who have completed some first year science classes.
The class lectures will vary from traditional format to wide open discussion and debate. There will be occasional guest lectures and films (to be announced in advance). The course will have considerable reading, and it is important that you read the material to be covered for each class in advance. To encourage this further, 5% of the grade will be derived from reading quizzes which will be administered at the start of some, but not all, classes, for about 5-10 minutes.
The grading breakdown is detailed below. Here are some explanations:
Quikpapers: There will be 2 which will be 1-2 pages max, and will be graded only for effort (you will receive written feedback on the papers as well) . You will be asked to write about topics presented in class, and to provide a thoughtful, reasoned opinion about the topic. This will give you some practice for writing your project paper. These will be overnight or over the weekend assignments.
Debates: There will be 2 in class `debates’ (the first will be Thursday April 5) in which you will break into groups pro or con (chosen at random) and debate topics of current interest. You will have one overnight or weekend session to prepare and evaluation will be based upon quality of reasoning and presentation.
Projects: There will be two major projects in the class. In Project I, each student will choose a specific topic from the list of global warming impacts and write a 3-5 page paper (excluding references, figures, tables, typed double spaced) and explore this in more detail. The main purpose is to orient the students to the level of research of interest for the subsequent major projects. Barring a terrible submission, grades of no less than B are expected here. On May 1, each student will give a brief (four minutes max including questions) power point on their paper.
In Project II, you will form groups (on May 11), and you will choose specific alternative energy technologies NOT discussed in class (a list of possibilities will be provided) and explore the present state, potential scale of usage, impact upon the environment (both positive and negative) and make a summary recommendation about whether and how to implement this technology. Each group will present 20 minute presentations (rigorously timed!) on June 1 along with a position paper (min 5, max 10 pages exclusive of figures, tables, inclusive of references) which can be in the form of a set of web pages.
Exams. There will be an open book, open note in-class midterm, on May , which will be only for the hour 11Am-12Pm, and an in-class final at 4-6 Pm on June 12, also open book open note. The midterm will cover the material through the April 26 lecture, and the final will cover material from May 2 through June 5 INCLUDING that which is presented by students on June 1!!!!
The reading assignments below refer to chapters from Hinrichs and Kleinbach (HK) or identified sections from the web or other.
-
-
-
-
- Overnight Paper 2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ++++++++++Last year's group presentation on biodiesel
- ++++++++++Last year's group presentation on ethanol
- ++++++++++Wind Kite group power points
- ++++++++++Space Photovolatic group power points
- ++++++++++deep geothermal group power points