UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER
CURRICULUM PROPOSAL FORM #3

NEW COURSE



Effective: Spring 2002

Course Number: * 800-100
 

Course Title: Energy

15 Character Abbreviation: Energy
25 Character Abbreviation: Energy
 
 
Sponsor: Hugo C. Tscharnack   E-mail Address: tscharnh@mail.uww.edu
Department: Physics   College: Letters and Sciences
Co-sponsor:    E-mail Address:
Department:    College:

Other Programs Affected: None

Check if course is to meet any of the following requirements:

__ None __ Writing __ Computer __ Diversity _X_ General Ed: Area Lab Science

Credit/Contact Hours: (per semester)
 
Total lab hours: ____32___   Total lecture hours: ___48_____
Number of credits: ____4____   Total contact hours: ___80_____

Check if course is repeatable: __X_ No ___ Yes If "Yes", answer the following questions:
 
No of times in major ________ No of credits in major ________
No of times in degree ________ No of credits in degree ________

Enter the appropriate titles if the course is required in any of the following:

Major Title(s):
Minor Title(s):
Emphasis Title(s):

Course justification:
Our society appears to bounce from one "energy crisis" to another. This course is designed to give the non-science major an understanding of the physics of energy, the limits that the laws of physics place on the availability of energy for consumption, and current and future sources of energy.

Relationship to program assessment objectives:
Meets the following Department of Physics assessment objectives:

    1. Provide education in physics to the non-science majors.
    2. Provide the non-science major with an exposure to the scientific method in a laboratory setting.
Budgetary impact:
This course will be taught with the current Department of Physics Staff as part of our general studies offerings rotation.  The cost for additional laboratory equipment could be as much as $1,000 or as little as nothing, depending on the degree of modernization desired.

Course description:
An examination of energy; its nature, the forms in which is appears, its transformation, current and future sources, and energy issues faced by an informed electorate. Three one-hour lectures and one two-hour laboratory per week.

Course requisites:
Co-Requisite Mathematics 760-140 or 760-141

Course objectives and tentative course syllabus:
Objectives:

    1. To gain an understanding of the nature of energy.
    2. To understand the limitations the laws of physics place on the use of energy.
    3. To became an informed voter on energy issues
    4. To gain laboratory experience in a physical science.
Textbook: Energy Problems of a Technical Society, Second Edition by Kraushaar and Ristinen

Course Outline:

WEEK ONE
 Motion: velocity, acceleration
 Laboratory: The Use of Excel to Perform Calculations and Plot Graphs
WEEK TWO
 Newton’s Three Laws of Motion
 Laboratory: Measurement of Speed and acceleration
 WEEK THREE
  Momentum and Conservation of Momentum
  Laboratory: Conservation of Momentum
WEEK FOUR
Work and Machines
 Laboratory: The Force of Friction
WEEK FIVE
 Energy and Power
 Kinds and Forms
 Laboratory: The Atwood Machine
WEEK SIX
 Work-Energy Theorem
 Laboratory: The Inclined Plane
WEEK SEVEN
 Conservation of Energy
 Laboratory: The Simple Pendulum
WEEK EIGHT
 The Three Laws of Thermodynamics
 Laboratory: Internal Energy
WEEK NINE
 Heat Engines, Refrigerators, and Maximum Efficiency
 Laboratory: The Efficiency of an Electric Motor
WEEK TEN
 Energy Transfer and transformation
 Laboratory: The Spring-Mass System
WEEK ELEVEN
 Sources of Energy
 Laboratory: Mechanical Equivalent of Heat
WEEK TWELVE
 Radioactivity and Nuclear Energy
 Laboratory: An Uncontrolled Nuclear Reaction
WEEK THIRTEEN
 Nuclear Radiation
 Laboratory: Radiation Absorption
WEEK FOURTEEN
 Future Sources of Energy
 Laboratory: Photovoltaic and Fuel Cells
Bibliography:
Asimov, Isaac, Life and Energy*, (Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1962)

Atkins, P. W., The Second Law*, (Scientific American Books, New York, NY, 1984)

Crawley, Gerald M., Energy, (Macmillan, New York, NY, 1975

Devins, D.W., Energy, Its Physical Impact on the Environment, (Wiley, New York, NY, 1982)

Fenn, John B., Engines, Energy, and Entropy: A Thermodynamics Primer*, (W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 1982)

Fowler, John M., Energy and The Environment, (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1975)

Goldstein, Martian, and Inge F. Goldstein, The Refrigerator and the Universe*, (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993)

Marion, Jerry, Energy In Perspective*, (Academic Press, New York, NY, 1975)

Romer, Robert H., Energy and Introduction to Physics*, (W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 1976)

* Available in Andersen Library