I'm taking Thermo with Al Crosbie this semester. I've heard some pretty rough things about him, and I was wanting to get some of his old tests to look at before I get railed in the ass by his first one. So anyone that has had him in the past should let me know how his class is. So far he hasn't taught me anything that they have learned in the other thermo classes.

Also, I'm taking Phys 107 with Dr. Story. Pretty legit guy, it seems like an easy enough class. But I wanted to get a look at his tests before hand as well. Also, if you know where I can find a solutions manual for his book, Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers 3rd by Thornton and Rex, or old, worked out homework, let me know.

You're cheating yourself if you get old homeworks for 107. If they even help with your current homeworks (likely they will not), you won't get the sense of achievement that you'd get by figuring out the problem yourself or with some hints from Dr. Story himself. Go to his office hours and ask questions if you have them. When I took his classes I practically lived in his office. I got a B in every class I took with him, but I felt like I earned those grades more than any other grade I've gotten in college.

Crosbie will rail you in the ass hardcore and laugh all the way to the bank as he signs your dropslip. He's very very good about teaching you nothing patently useful, which is a real shame in a core, fundamental mechanical engineering class.
You won't find Crosbie's old tests. He doesn't return them. Ever. He'll let you look at them, in his office, by appointment, but he never even removes his hand from the test.


Some hints--

Use enthalpy (h) every time you are working with a control volume (open system) problem. Use internal energy (u) every time you are working with a control mass (closed system) problem.

You should know the meaning of all of those words.

Get somebody to sit you down and show you how to use the property lookup tables. Dr. Kelly Homan and Dr. James Drallmeier are very good resources--and very busy men, so explain your situation by e-mail and maybe they will help you.

Knowing Crosbie he will be much more interested in having you derive the first law from memory than in showing you what it actually means.

That should get you through the first month.

After finishing both of the classes with A's, you guys give horrible advice.

Dr. Story's class was the easiest class I've had so far. The homework from last semester only helped for some problems(different book this semester, but some problems were the same) I ended up getting a Cramster account, they had most of the solutions. Without it, the homework would have been hell.

Had his tests from the previous year though. Almost identical, and his tests were ridiculously easy compared to the homework he assigned.

As for Crosbie, I found him a great teacher. He had a very straightforward method for every problem. Yeah, it's a little tedious in the beginning, but everything you learn is in a straight progression, and the method never changes from the beginning to the end. His test's were rough though, the problems were pretty easy compared to the homework, but there were just so many on the tests.