Course Descriptions / 159 PHYS-388 Acoustics in the Human Environment 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: PHYS-224, PHYS-225 Minimum Class Standing: JR This course surveys elements in acoustics that involve human factors, including the physiology of hearing, psychoacoustics and sound quality metrics, and the basic signal processing needed for these metrics. Topics in architectural and room acoustics will also explore how we experience and control our acoustic environment. While the level of prerequisites and mathematical sophistication is intermediate, intense independent learning and academic maturity is expected. Computer software will be used to manipulate audio signals and understand processing that is often automated (and used carelessly). In this course, less emphasis will be placed on technical practice that may change. Instead, students will be challenged to understand why standards are written as they are, how metrics are designed, and how “rules of thumb” originated. Terms offered: Winter, Spring, every other year PHYS-412 Theoretical Mechanics 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-114 Minimum Class Standing: NA A look at classical physics. Topics include the projectile motion with air resistance, simple harmonic and nonlinear oscillation, central force motion, Kepler's laws and planetary motion, motion in noninertial reference frames, motion of systems of particles, rigid body motion, Lagrangian mechanics, and Hamiltonian theory. Computational methods for solving advanced physics problems will also be introduced. Terms Offered: Three Term Rotation PHYS-446 Solid State Physics 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-362 Minimum Class Standing; JR This course covers advanced topics in physics of solids such as crystal lattices, reciprocal lattice vectors and momentum space, Brillouin zone, elastic waves in crystals, phonons. inelastic scattering by phonons, phonon heat capacity, density of states, energy band gap and Bloch functions, Kronig-Penny model for periodic well and reciprocal space, effective mass, Fermi surfaces, artificial structures of semiconductors. The last two weeks of the course include a few special topics in solid state physics selected from Dielectrics, ferroelectrics, diamagnetism, paramagnetism, ferromagnetism, anti-ferromagnetism, Giant Magneto-resistance (GMR) and defects in solids. Terms offered: Winter, Spring, every other year PHYS-452 Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-362 Minimum Class Standing: SRI This course is designed to introduce the student to statistical approaches for the analysis of systems containing a large number of particles. Specific topics include the fundamentals of thermodynamics, conditions for equilibrium and stability, ensemble theory, non-interacting systems, and phase transitions. Terms Offered: Every Third AB Term PHYS-462 Quantum Mechanics 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-362 Minimum Class Standing: JR This course introduces students to the fundamentals of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Topics include: photons, matter waves, the Bohr model, the time-independent Schrodinger equation (and its application to one dimensional potentials), quantization of angular momentum, spin, the hydrogen atom, multi-electron atoms, and perturbation theory. Terms offered: Winter, Spring PHYS-477 Optics 3 0 2 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-302 Minimum Class Standing: JR A study of geometrical and physical optics. Topics in geometrical optics include phenomena of reflection, refraction, total internal reflection and their application to imaging systems consisting of lenses and mirrors. Physical optics will start from the electromagnetic wave nature of light and will focus on such wave-like phenomena as optical interference, diffraction, polarization, and dispersion of light. Limited topics in interaction of light with matter, crystal optics, optical properties of materials and their applications in such areas as optoelectronics, photonics and fiber optics will also be addressed. The lab investigates optical component analysis, ray tracing, interferometry, diffraction, polarization, interference, optical fibers and other special topics. Terms Offered: Summer, Fall PHYS-485 Acoustic Testing and Modeling 2 0 4 4 Prerequisites: MATH-204, PHYS-302 Minimum Class Standing: NA This course combines testing and measurement in the Acoustics Laboratory, modeling approaches including the finite element method, and exposure to textbook and journal literature to explore basic phenomena in acoustics. Each time the course is offered, students and the instructor will select three modules from a larger set, so that the course may be tailored to meet the needs and interests of students and faculty. Module topics include acoustics oscillators, structural vibration, source models, three-dimensional wave propagation, impedance and intensity, and transducers. Additional modules may be offered. Students in this course will collaborate to develop understanding through lab work, modeling, and theory. Each module will culminate in a presentation. Terms Offered: Summer, Fall PHYS-498 Senior Research 2 0 4 4 Prerequisite: NA Minimum Class Standing: SRII in Applied Physics An advanced research experience in applied physics which will require an exhaustive literature search and a review paper on a topic of interest to the student, as well as the design of an extended research project in the student’s chosen area, experimental collection and analysis of data, and both oral and written presentation of results. Exceptional presentations may be submitted for presentation at a professional meeting or for publication in a journal. Terms Offered: As Needed SCIE-199 Science Transfer Course 3 0 2 4 Prerequisite: NA Minimum Class Standing: NA This course is intended as a place to record credit for student transferring into <strong>Kettering</strong>’s Management program. It grants transferring students credit towards a science course if they have completed a course at another institution that meets the following requirement: - Minimum 4 semester hour course from a regionally accredited college or university or foreign equivalent - Identifiable lab requirement - Transfer course cannot be labeled as “developmental” or “remedial” in the transfer school’s catalog. - Course must be in a “natural science” discipline such as: Anatomy, Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geology, Physical Science, Physics, Zoology Terms Offered: None - Transfer only SOC-332 Contemporary Social Problems 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: COMM-101, HUMN-201, SSCI-201 Minimum Class Standing: SOI This course analyzes how and why particular issues become identified and defined as a problem in society. Cases investigated are selected from broad areas such as global interconnections, institutional crises, inequalities, and environmentalism. Competing accounts of problems are examined for what they tell us about the causes of, interconnections between and possible solutions to the identified problems. Terms Offered: As Needed SOC-335 Analysis of Social Dissent 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: COMM-101, HUMN-201, SSCI-201 Minimum Class Standing: SOI This course provides a sociological analysis of the causes, processes and consequences of social dissent. Emphasis is placed on the impact of dissent in changing society. Examples will be drawn from the U.S. today, from American history and, for comparison, from other times and societies. Terms Offered: As Needed SOC-336 Sociology of the Family 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: COMM-101, HUMN-201, SSCI-201 Minimum Class Standing: SOI This course is a sociological study of the American family system in comparative and historical perspective. It deals with connections between
160 / <strong>Kettering</strong> <strong>University</strong> the family as an institution and other aspects of U.S. society such as inequalities of social class, race and gender; government policies, the organization of work, and demographic shifts. Terms Offered: All SOC-337 Religion in Society 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: COMM-101, HUMN-201, SSCI-201 Minimum Class Standing: SO A study of the relationships between religion and society. A broad range of religious practices and beliefs selected from diverse human societies will be examined using social scientific perspectives. Terms Offered: As Needed SOC-338 Gender and Society 4 0 0 4 Prerequisites: COMM-101, HUMN-201, SSCI-201 Minimum Class Standing: SOI This course is a study of social expectations concerning men’s and women’s behavior, personalities, and abilities. These gendered expectations influence both private, intimate relationships and the roles found in social institutions such as education and work. Several perspectives that explain the origins of these expectations and changes in them are explored. Terms Offered: Fall, Winter, As Needed SSCI-201 Introduction to the Social Sciences 4 0 0 4 Prerequisite: COMM-101 Minimum Class Standing: FRI This course will offer a broad comparative study of the nature of human experience, how social scientists study that experience, and some of their findings. It will consider moral and ethical issues (in society and in studying society). It will examine selected topics for what they teach us about society in general, our present society, or social science. The topics selected will vary from term to term but will include contemporary issues within such areas as science and technology, religion, politics, the environment, and human conflict. Terms Offered: All THS 2 Thesis Project 4 Credits Minimum Class Standing: NA This required individual project provides the senior student the opportunity to apply his or her academic and co-op work experience to a realistic problem. A thesis documenting the project must be completed. The project usually is carried out at the student’s employment. The Thesis 1, initiation, carries no credits, and is registered when the project is approved and assigned. The Thesis 2, completion, carries 4 credits and is registered in one of the last two terms of a <strong>Kettering</strong> student’s educational career.
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