Course Content and Philosophy:
The URL for this course is http://zebu.uoregon.edu/disted/phys161.html
This course will deal with the use of energy in a Technology Society and will examine, in detail, the various physical feedback loops that are present in nature but which Technology disrupts. We will examine our present understanding of the nature of energy and energy efficiency in order to establish what our limitations are. All of the lectures will be delivered through electronic projection of the course Web pages which means that you don't have to take incessant notes because the material will be accessible through any networked computer on campus or even from home via modem. Past experience has shown that this allows students to come to class, listen to see how concepts go together and hence more easily grasp the big picture. Improved exam scores have resulted due to using the network as the curriculum delivery tool.
All students need to get an e-mail and Internet access account. All assignments will be turned in via e-mail.
This course is designed to be topical and we will come to an understanding of why the Greenhouse problem is truly a global one where everyone is to blame. This course is meant to be a non-traditional physics course where we will actually apply physical principles to the real world in order to understand that we are constrained by physics, now matter how much imagination we think we have.
This course will follow the textbook only loosely. Specific reading assignments are given on the syllabus. We will begin the course with an overview of physics and energy as well as cycles and feedback loops. We will then move on to humankind's intervention into natural systems and the consequences thereof and consider our dependency on fossil fuels, the impact of that dependency and how it can be minimized. This is a classic issue of cheap energy/lots of jobs vs. long term stability of the planet and the care and feeding of the future generation. Lastly we will deal with the issues of Nuclear Energy , Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy strategies.
This course will not be very technical, although some mathematical descriptions will be absolutely necessary. Grading techniques, however, will be designed so that people with weak math backgrounds or aptitudes will not be penalized.
Grading of this course will consist of the following:
2 Midterm Exams which will total 40% of your grade
A Final which will total 40% of your grade
A few homework assignments which will total 20% of your grade