PHYS 4305 — Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureNUpath NDusually offered: fall, springtypical days: T/FBostonTraditional
Focuses on first and second laws of thermodynamics, entropy and equilibrium, thermodynamic potentials, elementary kinetic theory, statistical mechanics, and the statistical interpretation of entropy. Utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics to describe the behavior of thermodynamic/statistically-large systems such as quantum gases.
Prerequisites
- all of:
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | 1 | 18 | 39 | 46% | 21.0 |
| Spring 2024 | 1 | 37 | 50 | 74% | 13.0 |
| Summer B 2024 | 1 | 14 | 42 | 33% | 28.0 |
| Fall 2024 | 1 | 14 | 25 | 56% | 11.0 |
| Spring 2025 | 1 | 37 | 40 | 93% | 3.0 |
| Fall 2025 | 1 | 12 | 25 | 48% | 13.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 1 | 24 | 36 | 67% | 12.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 9% · T 72% · W 12% · Th 0% · F 79%
Common patterns: TF (72% of sections), W (12% of sections), M (9% of sections), F (8% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Fall
- Armen Stepanyants (68% of students) · reviews
- Brent Nelson (32% of students) · reviews
Spring
- Camille Gomez-Laberge (76% of students) · reviews
- Ankita Sarkar (24% of students) · reviews
Summer B
- Ismet Altunkaynak (100% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Unlocks
PHYS 5114, PHYS 5117, PHYS 5118
Courses that list PHYS 4305 in their prerequisites.
Links
Official catalog (PHYS course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All PHYS courses · Plan it at numap.app