Professor: Greg Beaucage
beaucag@uc.edu
556-3063(Office)/-5152 (Lab)/-9305(Lab)
492 Rhodes/410 Rhodes
Textbook:
Level: Graduate (Undergraduate Elective)
Synopsis of Course: This course is aimed at equipping students with a basic level of knowledge of the terminology and mathematics involved in the physical understanding of polymers. Most of the topics deal with post 1970 concepts involving the statics and dynamics of polymeric materials. The course is intended for graduate students who would like to gain an understanding of modern approaches to polymer physics (statics). The course will closely follow the recent books of Strobl and Doi as well as Flory's seminal text. Doi's intent is similar to that of this course, "...to present a framework to graduate students in a concise and self-contained manner..." The prerequisite is "...a knowledge of undergraduate-level statistical mechanics..." as introduced in thermodynamics courses and polymer classes. Courses in polymers and thermodynamics are a necessary preparation for the course. The syllabus follows Strobl's Chapters 1-3 the Appendix on RPA and Scattering and Chapters 8 & 9 as well as Doi's 5 chapters.
This course is designed as a required graduate course but undergraduates and graduate students outside of Chemical and Materials Engineering often take this class. For undergraduates a letter grade boost is given (and A is an 80 or higher for undergraduates).
Quizzes (Equal Weight)
~10 Weekly Quizzes or Homeworks
End of ~every 3'rd lecture, 2 problems
Homework is due at 5 pm one week after assignment
20 minutes
Comprehensive Final Exam
1:30-3:30 p.m December 14, Friday
During Finals Week. (worth 3 Quizzes)
Final Grade will be a letter grade (no + -'s used):
A = 90.0 to 100; B = 80.0 to 89.9; C = 70.0 to 79.9
Final Grade is the mean of all quizzes and the comprehensive final
weighted at 3 quizzes.
Options to Make-up Low Quiz Grades:
Students can replace quiz grades with optional projects
that will be assigned during the quarter such as computer
programs, detailed calculations, formulation of models for special
situations. These optional projects are homework assignments
intended to reinforce the course material. Optional projects
will be assigned with a due date for those desiring to replace a
quiz grade. (2 weeks from the date of assignment unless
otherwise noted and all critical reviews and other work must be
turned in by the last Wednesday of classes, Wednesday December 5
at 5 pm in 492 Rhodes).
Students can replace their quiz grades with a critical review of a
published paper dealing with one of the topics covered in the
class (replace up to 3 quiz grades per review) . The review must
comment on the scientific validity of the work and the merit of
the paper for publication, i.e. comment on what was added to the
scientific literature by the paper, problems with the data and
interpretation, suggest better measurements or approaches and the
like. The review must include a copy of the paper and copies
of relevant literature cited in the review. Students are
expected to search the literature for contradictory data and
theories. The review will be between 1 and 4 pages single spaced
using 12 point font and 1 inch margins. Instructions for the
critical review are given on the course web page but generally the
critical review will follow the following format:
1) Summary of the author's intent and conclusions. (1 paragraph)
2) Point by point discussion of problems with the paper usually
numbered.
3) Summary of the rejection (1 paragraph)
4) Statement of fate for the paper: "This manuscript should not be
published because ..."
You should completely reject the chosen paper so you need to find a paper you disagree with pertaining to polymer physics and the topics covered in this course.