Policy and Grading
Staff
Recitations
Learning Objectives
Books
Schedule
Notes
Exams
Papers
H2-O2 Code
HW Solutions
Cantera Install
EES Install
Source directory
Equation Sheet
Mechanisms and Data
LaTeX
Quote/fun Page Book
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thermo@ece.olin.edu
Attendance and Responsibility
Class attendance is generally expected. If you must miss a class for a legitimate reason please inform me as early as possible so that we can plan appropriately and provide you with makeup materials. If you find that class seems like "a waste time" please come see me so we can discuss why.
Reading Preparation
The Course Syllabus contains reading assignments that are to be done before class. Please don't come unprepared - it not only makes your class time less effective, but slows down the class for your peers.
Grading Policy
Grading will be based on my expectations of how well you understand the material presented in the course and how much effort you have put into learning the material. Grading will not be based on comparisons with classmates.
Your grade for the class will be computed from your performance on three papers, two exams, and completion of one simulation code. The general breakdown is as follows:
| 40% | 3 Project Reports (10%,10%,20%) |
| 25% | Exam 1 |
| 25% | Exam 2 |
| 10% | H2-O2 Combustion Code |
You may recompute your grade using homework as 10% and either exam as 15%, or HW 10%, Exam 1 20%, Exam 2 20%. See below for homework grading policy. You may choose to not have homework count. Homework is meant to provide practice, it is unlikely that one could do well on the exams in the course without keeping on top of the assignments.
Homework
Homework is meant to provide you practice with the tools you will learn throughout this class. I will assign regular problems for practice and will distribute solutions in a timely manner. I will not grade these regular assignments, you will be responsible for checking your work against the solutions and grading yourself. You should keep all your homework in a lab notebook for the course in chronological order. Your work should be in blue or black ink and your "grading" should be done in red. If you simply make minor mistakes, correct the problems in red. If you completely miss the problem you should rework it. On each problem set grade yourself. A 5 means you got it right, a 4 means you understood but missed it due to a minor error in calculation. A 3 means you missed it due to an error in setting up the problem. A 2 means you were really way off. A zero means you didn't do it. At the end of term you will provide me with your notebook and what you think to be a fair homework grade out of 10 points. I will look through the book and judge whether you are being honest, too hard on yourself, or too easy. A notebook full of mistakes, but reworking of missed problems may receive a higher grade than the numerical average of all the problems within. A notebook full of correct problems that are completely incomprehensible and very messy can recieve a lower grade than the average. An "average" notebook will have a homework grade similar to the numerical average. Homework should be conducted in a fashion that makes it easy to verify successful completion and your comprehension of the material. Please use your notebook for scratch, but rework the problem neatly when you are done. State assumptions, provide units. Label each page with the date and what problem is contained on those pages.Project Reports
You will write three short papers for this course. The first will be on the analysis and modeling of an ideal gas system; all reports will be on the same topic. The second report will be on the analysis of a thermodynamic cycle; each student will select a cycle from a list of pre-selected topics. The first two papers will be limited in scope and quite brief. The final paper will involve research and modeling of an interesting problem of your choice in chemical kinetics. This will be a more involved project than the prior two reports and involve the reseach and modeling of a problem of interest that is not a classic textbook problem.
You will be also be asked to review drafts of Project Reports written by your classmates. Each review will involve a short write-up to be delivered to the author.
I will require you to write your papers in LaTeX. Example files are posted for you to copy. The final papers will be bound into a journal for the course and each student will receive a printed copy.
Exams
There will be two exams in the course. The details of the content
will provided a reasonable time before the exam and a
practice exam will be distributed.
I will typically post the exam and then give you approximately one week to complete
in a two-hour time block of your choice during that week. All exams will be
take-home and subject to the usual honor code rules and regs.
Brian Storey
January, 2004.