Thermal Physics

A course on heat and thermodynamics given to third semester undergraduates at Surendranath College, Kolkata based on the syllabus prescribed by the University of Calcutta. The course contents can be found here (course code: PHS-A-CC-3-6-TH). 

I have taught this course twice: Autumn 2021 (jointly with Dr. Asok Das) and Autumn 2022 (jointly with Dr. Ranjit Maity). The main references and the assignments can be found below. 

References: 

1) Heat and Thermodynamics by M. W. Zemansky and R. Dittman 

This is the primary textbook for the first two modules of the course. The explanations are clear and lucid. The book also contains some introductory material for the statistical mechanics course. 

2) Thermal Physics by A. B. Gupta and H. P. Roy

This textbook covers the portions of kinetic theory, transport phenomena, behavior of real gases, and heat conduction in reasonable detail. It also comes with a compilation of problems suitable for the exams of various Indian universties. 

Autumn 2022: 

I had taught modules 1 and 2, i.e., the ones on basic thermodynamics. Assignments can be downloaded from the links below.

1) First Law of Thermodynamics

2) Heat Engines and Second Law of Thermodynamics

3) Thermodynamic Relations

4) Phase Transitions

Autumn 2021:  

I had taught the modules 3 and 4, and the part on phase transitions from the 2nd module. Assignments can be downloaded from the links below.

1) Ideal Gas, Equipartition Theorem and Maxwell’s Speed Distribution 

2) Mean Free Path, Transport Phenomena and Brownian Motion 

3) Heat Conduction

4) Phase Transitions and Behaviour of Real Gases