Welcome to the GEOS 370, Energy and the Human Environment, webpage for the Spring 2014 semester.
Spring 2014 Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM. Location: Physical Science Building room 130
Syllabus
Required Book: Energy, Its Use and the Environment, 5th edition, by Hinrichs and Kleinbach.
What actually happened:
Tues., 21 Jan., Lecture: Handout & review syllabus; Began Chapter 1: IPCC and evidence of climate change; world population; EIA.
Thurs., 23 Jan., Lecture: Continue Chapter 1: examples of how harnessing energy for human use harms the environment; quad; energy use in the US.
Tues., 28 Jan., Lecture: Physical dimensions; units, prefixes; forms and flows of energy; simple problems of PE and KE; power. Example of human work required to run a 100 W lightbulb.
Thurs., 30 Jan., Lecture: Introduction to thermodynamics terminology: system, boundary, surroundings, open, closed, isolated, etc.
Fri., 31 Jan., Last day to add or drop classes without special permission of instructor.
Tues., 4 Feb., Lecture: Begin Chapter 4: heating and cooling of the system; thermal energy; temperature; conduction; convection; radiation; phase change; latent heat; heat capacity
Thurs., 6 Feb., Homework 1 due. Lecture: Continue with Chapter 4: gradient; flux; steam; heat engines; Rankine cycle; second law of thermo; efficiency
Tues., 11 Feb., Quiz #1 (on Chapters 1 and 2). Lecture: Begin Chapter 5: Home Energy Conservation and Heat Transfer Control
Thurs., 13 Feb., Quiz #2 (on Chapter 2 and 3). Lecture: Continue Chapter 5: Flux-gradient relationships
Fri., 14 Feb., Census date: no adding or dropping or changing of grade option beyond this date without a serious or compelling reason approved by the instructor, chair, and dean.
Tues., 18 Feb., Homework #2 Due (on chapters 3 and 4) Lecture: Review for Exam #1.
Thurs., 20 Feb., Exam #1 on Chapters 1-4.
Tues., 25 Feb., Return exams. Lecture: Complete Chapter 5 and begin Chapter 6 (Solar Energy).
Thurs., 27 Feb., No lecture. Work on Special Assignment.
Tues., 4 Mar., Quiz on Chapter 5. Lecture: Continue Chapter 6. Sun, National Ignition Facility (NIF), solar radiation.
Thurs., 6 Mar., Lecture: Begin Chapter 7: Fossil fuels: Coal, petroleum, natural gas.
Tues., 11 Mar., Lecture: Brief review of subjects for exam; Complete Chapter 7 (pages 225-230: gravitation, gravity, weight, non-EM waves, reflection, refraction---relevant physics of oil and gas exploration.)
Thurs., 13 Mar., Exam #2 on Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
Tues., 18 Mar., Spring break - no classes
Thurs., 20 Mar., Spring break - no classes
Tues., 25 Mar., Return exams. Lecture: Begin Chapter 8 on Air Pollution. Discuss composition of air; pressure & density, stability, temperature inversions; transport & dispersion.
Thurs., 27 Mar., Lecture: continue Chapter 8: scales of atmospheric circulation; types of air pollutants: CO, SOx, PM, hydrocarbons (VOCs), NOx
Tues., 1 Apr., Quiz on Chapter 8. Lecture: continue Chapter 8. Ozone, Chapman reactions, Dobson unit, polar stratospheric clouds, ozone hole.
Thurs., 3 Apr., Lecture: continue Chapter 8. Acid rain, pH, indoor air pollution, CO, radon, automotive emission control devices.
Tues., 8 Apr., SET; Second Quiz on Chapter 8; Lecture: Complete Chapter 8: Stationary source air pollution control systems; Begin Chapter 9: Global warming & thermal pollution.
Thurs., 10 Apr., Lecture: Chapter 9: Key points on Climate Change from the IPCC 5th Assessment Report; greenhouse effect & gases; radiative forcing; carbon cycle.
Tues., 15 Apr., Lecture: Finish Chapter 9: Climate feedbacks (positive & negative); possible solutions to CO2 problem; carbon sequestration; thermal pollution.
Thurs., 17 Apr., Quiz on Chapter 9; Lecture: Begin Chapter 10. Electric charge; current; potential; Ohm's law, Joule heating.
Tues., 22 Apr., Lecture: continue Chapter 10: elementary circuits (series vs parallel); fuse; breaker; kWh; electricity pricing; Energy Star program; types of lamps; fuel cells.
Thurs., 24 Apr., Lecture: Discussion on internal combustion engines, gasoline. Briefly introduce hybrid vehicles, electric motors, and magnetism (Chap. 11). James Hansen videos: One, Two and Three.
Tues., 29 Apr., Quiz on Chapter 10. Lecture: Begin Chapter 11: Magnetic fields; magnets; electromagnetism; electromagnetic induction. (pp. 347-354)
Thurs., 1 May, Lecture: Complete Chapter 11: Faraday's law of induction; transmission of electricity; transformers; electricity generation process from mine to consumer. (pp. 354-370)
Tues., 6 May, Review week (no new material)
Thurs., 8 May, Review week (no new material)
Thurs., 15 May, FINAL EXAM: 10:00 - 11:50 AM
Dr. Mayor's page
CSU Chico Atmospheric Lidar Research Group