COURSE DESCRIPTION This course provides an introduction to the most powerful engineering principles you will ever learn - Thermodynamics: the science of transferring energy from one place or form to another place or form. We will introduce the tools you need to analyze energy systems from solar panels, to engines, to insulated coffee mugs. More specifically, we will cover the topics of mass and energy conservation principles; first law analysis of control mass and control volume systems; properties and behavior of pure substances; and applications to thermodynamic systems operating at steady state conditions. COURSE FORMAT The class consists of lecture videos, which average 8 to 12 minutes in length. The videos include integrated In-Video Quiz questions. There are also quizzes at the end of each section, which include problems to practice your analytical skills that are not part of video lectures. There are no exams. GRADING POLICY Each question is worth 1 point. A correct answer is worth +1 point. An incorrect answer is worth 0 points. There is no partial credit. You can attempt each quiz up to three times every 8 hours, with an unlimited number of total attempts. The number of questions that need to be answered correctly to pass are displayed at the beginning of each quiz. Following the Mastery Learning model, students must pass all 8 practice quizzes with a score of 80% or higher in order to complete the course. ESTIMATED WORKLOAD If you follow the suggested deadlines, lectures and quizzes will each take approximately ~3 hours per week each, for a total of ~6 hours per week. TARGET AUDIENCE Basic undergraduate engineering or science student. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - What are the prerequisites for taking this course? An introductory background (high school or first year college level) in chemistry, physics, and calculus will help you be successful in this class. -What will this class prepare me for in the academic world? Thermodynamics is a prerequisite for many follow-on courses, like heat transfer, internal combustion engines, propulsion, and gas dynamics, to name a few. -What will this class prepare me for in the real world? Energy is one of the top challenges we face as a global society. Energy demands are deeply tied to the other major challenges of clean water, health, food resources, and poverty. Understanding how energy systems work is key to understanding how to meet all these needs around the world. Because energy demands are only increasing, this course also provides the foundation for many rewarding professional careers.
JL
The course was a great refresher for my upcoming FE exam. I have been out of school for almost 10 years so I really needed this course. Overall the teacher was easy to under
MM
Great course. But I was also hoping to get an in-depth analytical understanding of the second law of thermodynamics and the zeroth law as well. But I really enjoyed it and definitely learned a lot.
JR
A useful course for anyone in chemical engineering. I enjoyed the material. Its well structured. Would be nice if Professor Wooldridge gave more example problems.
M
Very interesting course and the professor explains everything in a very detailed and well-rounded matter. Strongly recommend for anyone wishing to get the basics of thermodynamics.
MM
A good course for engineering students. It teaches thermodynamics in an efficient and simple way and give a good foundation to those who wants to explore the energy sector.
AM
Courses from the University of Michigan are always awesome. Hats off to Margaret Wooldridge, mam. Thank you so much, Coursera and the University of Michigan for making this outstanding experience.
MA
Best teacher i have had till now,clear explanation of concepts and understanding and examples based on real life problems and analysis.Best course the start thermodynamics with
SH
Great intro course to thermodynamics. A follow up course with more advanced topics (2nd law, exergy etc.) would definitely be useful. A course at the graduate level would be very welcome!
GP
Excellent course for anyone needing an introduction to the main concepts in thermodynamics. Crystal clear explanations from an excellent professor. Highly recommend!
VA
One of the Best Teachers ever I studied under!! I sincerely wish that we can get more courses by the same teacher on Coursera. I would be more than happy to pursue those courses.
PN
This course is very theory-heavy, but that is what makes it so entertaining and engrossing. Professor Wooldridge was able to connect the course material to real-world applications.
H
After completing this course i revised my subject thermodynamics which was i studied few years ago and now i got fundamentals of the the subject by completed this course .
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Margaret mam has done excellent job. Nicely designed the contents and videos were really helpful to solve the questions in the assignments.Thanks to mam. and Please Add course on Heat Transfer.
Should have made it clear that without the book, you will not be able to simply watch the lectures and solve some of the extremely complicated math problems in this class. I really struggled through some sections of the class without access to the formulas to solve many of the problems that showed up on the exams.
Great practical information to thermodynamical processes and machines with many calculated examples. A bit light on the fundamental definitions, like entropy, but very good for hands-on work.
If you already know thermodynamics and are looking for a refresher than this is probably for you. If you have no real exposure to this topic and want to learn it but may need a little help don't waste your time. It is amazing how many questions in the discussion go completely unanswered by the "staff" and you will get absolutely no assistance from anyone. Just pay your money and you figure it all out.
By Taking These Course of thermodynamic, They fulfilled my knowledge about thermodyanamic law, properties. They gave more effective information that is useful for me as Mechanical Engineer.
Good Introductory Thermodynamics Course, I am an electrical engineer and had to take this course as a prerequisite for a graduate level course in renewable energy. The professor is top-notch and explains the concepts very well, the assignments are not very challenging but force you to think about the concepts introduced in the video lecture. I am waiting for a follow up course which will deal with the second law, exergy etc. in detail.
the content and delivery of this course was exceptional. I learnt a lot about thermodynamics fundamentals and its practical applications. one of the best online courses I have attended so far
Starts off great, but quickly jumps into really dense course material moving quickly between topics with few images or examples while watching the lecturer slowly scribble on the slides. I expected more discussions in the videos with variance between visual, heavy calculations at a slower pace and high-level applications. Quizzes are long and redundant and there isn't enough recognition of the relationship between climate change and thermodynamics.
I like this course very much. This course helps me to clear my basic concepts of thermodynamics. I like the concept of this course is that, there is one hardware video in 7 and 8 week. So, my suggestion is to add one hardware video in each week related to the topic so it is very easy to understand the concept. This course is very important for me. Thank you very much to the Madam and the university.
Excellent course on the fundamentals of energy analysis, accounting, and transfer! Highly recommended for engineers, scientists, and anyone curious about energy, sustainability, and the environment! Dr. Wooldridge does an excellent job breaking down seemingly complex systems using the fundamental analysis techniques that will be well-ingrained in you by the time you complete this course. :)
Excellent course, the topics are very nice selected, and the teacher (Prof. Wooldrige) is amazing; excellent teaching abilities. The grade exercises are nice, although some of them are not well solved. If they can put the solution after each test could be excellent. Nevertheless, I think this a must take course for getting the principal thermodynamics concepts or getting a review of them.
Great intro course to thermodynamics. A follow up course with more advanced topics (2nd law, exergy etc.) would definitely be useful. A course at the graduate level would be very welcome!
One of the Best Teachers ever I studied under!! I sincerely wish that we can get more courses by the same teacher on Coursera. I would be more than happy to pursue those courses.
I feel the questions given in the assignments are not adequately covered in the lecture/given material. I find myself doing a lot of outside research to get through assignments. Quite a frustrating course for that reason. It might be helpful to add some more reading material that covers the assignment questions in more detail. I don't find any benefit in spending hours researching a simple problem that i could easily have learned had i been given adequate information to begin with. None of the subject material in this course is particularly difficult.
The resources suggested to the students are difficult to use, and even require payment (the free trial only allowed 3 calculations, while the course requires 10+ calculations for the Week 3 quiz). Overall, the lectures seemed poorly planned out and lacked examples.
I had a minor in physics when I graduated from college about 32 years ago. Thermodynamics is one of the courses I would have needed to complete a major. I am taking this course just for fun and to broaden my knowledge of physics. Even though it has been a long time since I have done physics, the instructor has made the concepts so clear that I am not struggling. A serious effort is required but the presentation is very logical and there are plenty of good practical examples.
Very good introductory course.
What i liked:
+ detailed and gradually explained basic concepts and laws;
+ lots of practical tasks in quizes;
+ Interesting info about world energy sources (the last week)
+ well defined amount of work per week for successful learning.
What i would like to be better:
- Would like to see more examples of real machines and processes (more pictures, videos, links to real world examples ), more interesting facts in field of thermodynamics and energy.
Courses from the University of Michigan are always awesome. Hats off to Margaret Wooldridge, mam. Thank you so much, Coursera and the University of Michigan for making this outstanding experience.
It is quite a course that really gives the good understanding and brief problem solving capability about Thermodynamics. It also gives the mechanisms for energy generation, cycle process, states and so on. Moreover one can get a very important information and realities about world's energy bottlenecks and probable solutions. Dr. Wooldridge's undertaken to show these alternatives. But in this economic conjecture of energy generation, she becomes Don Quixot against windmills. Nonetheless, Dr. Wooldridge teaches the mechanism of these windmills. I hope her entropy lasts until the energy giants change their pathways to what she offers for the sake of inhabitable world.
An outstanding course, to say the least. The course covers all introductory aspects of Thermodynamics, from very basics to numerical analysis of power cycles to the future of energy demands. The quizzes were challenging and required thinking, which was a positive as it helped develop critical thinking skills. The instructor was awesome and had a great grip on the subject. A little preliminary knowledge might be required for those studying thermodynamics for the very first time though.