This specialization was developed for the mechanical or aerospace engineering advanced undergraduate graduate or graduate student who already has a strong background in undergraduate engineering thermodynamics and is ready to tackle the underlying fundamentals of the subject. It is designed for those entering advanced fields such as combustion, high temperature gas dynamics, environmental sciences, or materials processing, or wishes to build a background for understanding advanced experimental diagnostic techniques in these or similar fields. It covers the relationship between macroscopic and microscopic thermodynamics and derives properties for gases, liquids and solids. It also covers non-equilibrium behavior as found in kinetic theory and chemical kinetics. The main innovation is the use of the postulatory approach to introducing fundamental concepts and the very clear connection between macroscopic and microscopic thermodynamics. By introducing basic ideas using postulates, students are given a very straightforward way to think about important concepts, including entropy and temperature, ensembles and quantum mechanics.
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Statistical Thermodynamics Specialization
Instructor: John W. Daily
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What you'll learn
Understand how the microscopic properties of atoms and molecules relate to classical thermodynamic properties and to some non-equilibrium phenomena.
Analyze and estimate how thermodynamic materials behave and obtain appropriate equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties.
Apply some computational skills to statistical thermodynamics.
Overview
Skills you'll gain
- Mechanics
- Engineering Calculations
- Mathematical Modeling
- Thermal Management
- Engineering Analysis
- Numerical Analysis
- Physical Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Differential Equations
- Simulations
- Physics
- Statistical Methods
- Chemical Engineering
- Simulation and Simulation Software
- Probability Distribution
- Chemistry
- Quantitative Research
- Semiconductors
- Applied Mathematics
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Specialization - 5 course series
What you'll learn
Explain the concept of temperature, thermodynamic pressure, and chemical potential from a postulatory perspective
Summarize the role of the Fundamental Relation in establishing connections between atomic/molecular structure and macroscopic properties
Skills you'll gain
What you'll learn
Describe the relationship between the Schrödinger wave equation and atomic/molecular structural behavior
Demonstrate an understanding of modern quantum chemistry numerical solution methods for solving the wave equation
Analyze the role of quantum mechanics in explaining atomic and molecular structural behavior
Skills you'll gain
What you'll learn
Analyze the behavior of monatomic, diatomic, and polyatomic ideal gases under various conditions
Describe the distinction between pure ideal gases and ideal gas mixtures and their industrial applications
Identify the key components of the partition functions used to describe translational, rotational, vibrational, and electronic motion
Skills you'll gain
What you'll learn
Analyze the impact of intermolecular forces on the transition of gases to liquids as density increases
Evaluate the stability of a thermodynamic system as it transitions from gas to liquid state in response to small perturbations
Assess the role of the radial distribution function (RDF) in determining thermodynamic properties of liquids
Describe the behavior of crystalline solids using simple statistical thermodynamics
Skills you'll gain
What you'll learn
Recognize the role of spectroscopic methods in determining the thermodynamic state of a system
Utilize the Boltzmann Equation and the Chapman-Enskog solution to determine transport properties in dense gases and liquids
Analyze the impact of reaction rates and rate constants on fluid/thermal applications such as combustion
Skills you'll gain
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Frequently asked questions
The set of courses is designed to be equivalent to a full semester course. It is composed of five courses, each with three modules except for Course 4 that has four modules, for a total of sixteen modules. If you complete about one module a week, you will finish the Specialization in about fifteen weeks.
Undergraduate Engineering Thermodynamics
That depends on your background. The first three courses are strongly tied together. Courses 4 and 5 depend on an understanding of statistical thermodynamics.
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Financial aid available,