Kinetic Gas Theory
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After pointing out several discrepancies between electron difference density results and Lewis bonding theory, the course proceeds to quantum mechanics in search of a fundamental understanding of chemical bonding. The wave function ψ, which beginning students find confusing, was equally confusing to the physicists who created quantum mechanics. The Schrödinger equation reckons kinetic energy through the shape of ψ. When ψ curves toward zer...more
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Rotating Rigid Bodies, Moments of Inertia, Parallel Axis and Perpendicular Axis Theorem. The moment of inertia for a rigid body around an axis of rotation is introduced, and related to its rotational kinetic energy. Flywheels can be used to store energy. Planets and stars have spin rotational kinetic energy, and the Crab Nebula pulsar is presented as a spectacular example.
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Momentum and its conservation during collisions is introduced. Kinetic energy can decrease or increase during collisions. When kinetic energy is conserved, we call it an elastic collision. The momentum vector, internal forces, external forces and the conservation of momentum are discussed. Professor Lewin does some air track experiments where the released energy is from a compressed spring; kinetic energy increases but momentum is conserve...more
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The concepts introduced are: work, conservative forces, potential energy, kinetic energy, mechanical energy, and Newton's law of universal gravitation. A wrecking ball is converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy and back and forth. If released with zero speed, the wrecking ball should NOT swing higher than its height when it was released. Professor Lewin puts his life on the line by demonstrating this.
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Professor McBride expands on the recently introduced concept of the wave function by illustrating the relationship of the magnitude of the curvature of the wave function to the kinetic energy of the system, as well as the relationship of the square of the wave function to the electron probability density. The requirement that the wave function not diverge in areas of negative kinetic energy leads to only certain energies being allowed, a p...more
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Standard financial theory left us woefully unprepared for the financial crisis of 2007-09. Something is missing in the theory. In the majority of loans the borrower must agree on an interest rate and also on how much collateral he will put up to guarantee repayment. The standard theory presented in all the textbooks ignores collateral. The next two lectures introduce a theory of the Leverage Cycle, in which default and collateral are endog...more
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In this first lecture, Professor Paul Fry explores the course's title in three parts. The relationship between theory and philosophy, the question of what literature is and does, and what constitutes an introduction are interrogated. The professor then situates the emergence of literary theory in the history of modern criticism and, through an analysis of major thinkers such as Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud, provides antecedents for twentieth...more
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Although the development of the germ theory of disease in the latter half of the nineteenth century marks a major revolution in medical science, comparable to the discoveries of Galileo in astronomy or Darwin in biology, it cannot be reduced to the heroic efforts of a single researcher or group of researchers. Rather, a number of conceptual, technological and institutional preconditions made the germ theory possible. Among these, contagion...more
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More on work. Introduction to Kinetic and Potential Energies.
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This lecture gives a brief history of the young field of financial theory, which began in business schools quite separate from economics, and of my growing interest in the field and in Wall Street. A cornerstone of standard financial theory is the efficient markets hypothesis, but that has been discredited by the financial crisis of 2007-09. This lecture describes the kinds of questions standard financial theory nevertheless answers well. ...more
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The lecture focuses on the problems directly related to the personality theory as key to personal identity. The theory states that a person retains his or her individuality so long as he or she has the same ongoing personality. The main objection raised to this claim is the problem of duplication. The lecture explores cases in which the same personality has been transferred or exported to multiple bodies.
