Online courses directory (273)

In this six-week course, you will learn the basics about our energy and climate obligations. You will also prepare yourself to continue learning as these issues evolve. You will evaluate demand-side (e.g. more efficient buildings and automobiles) and supply-side (e.g. solar and wind) strategies for more sustainable use of energy. The course will require fact-based analysis of our energy obligations and possible ways to meet them. Please also consider enrolling in Sustainable Energy Innovation which begins June 2.

This aerodynamics course focuses on the study of the flow of air about a body, and the “body” will be an airplane, but many of the concepts explored are relevant to a wide variety of applications from sailboats to automobiles to birds. Learners completing this aerodynamics course will gain a fundamental understanding of concepts and models used to aerodynamically analyze and design subsonic, transonic, and supersonic aircraft.

While the course is an introduction to aerodynamics, it is an advanced subject typically taken as a third or fourth year undergraduate subject in aerospace engineering.

This course provides an overview of and introduction to the fundamentals of aeronautics, using the history of aviation as a story line. The course uses examples from the very beginning of aviation (the Montgolfier brothers’ balloon flight in 1783 and the Wright brothers’ heavier-than-air flight in 1903) and continues all the way through to the current Airbus A380 and future aircraft. During this trajectory three major topics are discussed: aeronautics, aerodynamics and flight mechanics.

Lectures are frequently accompanied by related exercises and demonstrations. The course also incorporates (design) challenges/competitions, based on the knowledge obtained through the lectures.

LICENSE
The course materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International License.

The fundamental concepts, and approaches of aerospace engineering, are highlighted through lectures on aeronautics, astronautics, and design. Active learning aerospace modules make use of information technology. Student teams are immersed in a hands-on, lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle design project, where they design, build, and fly radio-controlled LTA vehicles. The connections between theory and practice are realized in the design exercises. Required design reviews precede the LTA race competition. The performance, weight, and principal characteristics of the LTA vehicles are estimated and illustrated using physics, mathematics, and chemistry known to freshmen, the emphasis being on the application of this knowledge to aerospace engineering and design rather than on exposure to new science and mathematics.

This class covers basic concepts of nuclear physics with emphasis on nuclear structure and interactions of radiation with matter. Topics include elementary quantum theory; nuclear forces; shell structure of the nucleus; alpha, beta and gamma radioactive decays; interactions of nuclear radiations (charged particles, gammas, and neutrons) with matter; nuclear reactions; fission and fusion.

An introduction to astronomy through a broad survey of what we know about the universe and how we know it.

This course introduces the fundamental Lean Six Sigma principles that underlay modern continuous improvement approaches for industry, government and other organizations. Lean emerged from the Japanese automotive industry, particularly Toyota, and is focused on the creation of value through the relentless elimination of waste. Six Sigma is a quality system developed at Motorola which focuses on elimination of variation from all processes. The basic principles have been applied to a wide range of organizations and sectors to improve quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, time-to-market and financial performance.

This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

This course provides an introduction to nuclear science and its engineering applications. It describes basic nuclear models, radioactivity, nuclear reactions and kinematics; covers the interaction of ionizing radiation with matter, with an emphasis on radiation detection, radiation shielding, and radiation effects on human health; and presents energy systems based on fission and fusion nuclear reactions, as well as industrial and medical applications of nuclear science.

Gain a rigorous introduction to physical chemistry suitable for undergraduates starting university. The course provides a unique, in-depth introduction to the three main pillars of physical chemistry: thermodynamics, kinetics and quantum mechanics.

The plasma state dominates the visible universe, and is important in fields as diverse as Astrophysics and Controlled Fusion. Plasma is often referred to as "the fourth state of matter." This course introduces the study of the nature and behavior of plasma. A variety of models to describe plasma behavior are presented.

This course introduces the academic discipline of sustainability and explores how today’s human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations.

This class assesses current and potential future energy systems, covering resources, extraction, conversion, and end-use technologies, with emphasis on meeting regional and global energy needs in the 21st century in a sustainable manner. Instructors and guest lecturers will examine various renewable and conventional energy production technologies, energy end-use practices and alternatives, and consumption practices in different countries. Students will learn a quantitative framework to aid in evaluation and analysis of energy technology system proposals in the context of engineering, political, social, economic, and environmental goals. Students taking the graduate version, Sustainable Energy, complete additional assignments.

This class assesses current and potential future energy systems, covering resources, extraction, conversion, and end-use technologies, with emphasis on meeting regional and global energy needs in the 21st century in a sustainable manner. Instructors and guest lecturers will examine various renewable and conventional energy production technologies, energy end-use practices and alternatives, and consumption practices in different countries. Students will learn a quantitative framework to aid in evaluation and analysis of energy technology system proposals in the context of engineering, political, social, economic, and environmental goals. Students taking the graduate version, Sustainable Energy, complete additional assignments.

In this course, you will learn how to characterize the energy state of a system and the mechanisms for transferring energy from one system to another. These are the tools necessary to understand stationary and transportation power systems from small scale, like batteries, to large scale, like nuclear power plants.

This is a organic chemistry course surveying introductory topics in structure and reactivity with an emphasis on structural fundamentals including electronic structure, conformation and stereochemistry.

Organic chemistry course surveying introductory topics in structure and reactivity with an emphasis on elementary reaction mechanisms.

Explore motion in the real world using modern tools and techniques (video capture and analysis, computer modeling) guided by fundamental physics principles.

5.73 covers fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics: wave properties, uncertainty principles, Schrödinger equation, and operator and matrix methods. Basic applications of the following are discussed: one-dimensional potentials (harmonic oscillator), three-dimensional centrosymmetric potentials (hydrogen atom), and angular momentum and spin. The course also examines approximation methods: variational principle and perturbation theory.

An examination of current economic and policy issues in the electric power industry, focusing on nuclear power and its fuel cycle. Introduces techniques for analyzing private and public policy alternatives, including discounted cash flow methods and other techniques in engineering economics. Application to specific problem areas, including nuclear waste management and weapons proliferation. Other topics include deregulation and restructuring in the electric power industry.

This physics course introduces the concept of tensor product states to discuss entanglement and Bell inequalities. You will learn about angular momentum and its representations. This is used to understand the spectrum of central potentials and to introduce hidden symmetries. Lastly, you will learn about the addition of angular momentum and an algebraic approach to the hydrogen atom spectrum.

This is the last of three courses offering a sophisticated view of quantum mechanics and its proper mathematical foundation.

• Part 1: Wave Mechanics
• Part 2: Quantum Dynamics
• Part 3: Entanglement and Angular Momentum

To follow this course you should have taken Part 1: Wave Mechanics, and Part 2: Quantum Dynamics.

Completing the 3-part Quantum Mechanics series will give you the necessary foundation to pursue advanced study or research at the graduate level in areas related to quantum mechanics

The series will follow MIT’s on campus 8.05, the second semester of the three-course sequence on undergraduate quantum mechanics, and will be equally rigorous. 8.05 is a signature course in MIT's physics program and a keystone in the education of physics majors. 

Learner Testimonials

“I’ve thought long and hard to come up with a better MOOC than this one (I’ve completed 25 of these things over the past 2 years) and can’t do it. 8.05x is #1 and I suspect will stay that way for some time to come.”

 “Being an engineering student from India trying to shift to Physics, I am often faced with the requirement to study topics on my own. Very often this has led me to feel inadequate. 8.05x was the perfect opportunity for me to both gain knowledge and evaluate my understanding on a high quality international platform. It has really exceeded my expectations. Now, at the end of fifteen weeks, I feel more confident and hopefully I am more knowledgeable.”

FAQ

Who can register for this course?

Unfortunately, learners from Iran, Cuba, Sudan and the Crimea region of Ukraine will not be able to register for this course at the present time. While edX has received a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer courses to learners from Iran and Sudan our license does not cover this course.

Separately, EdX has applied for a license to offer courses to learners in the Crimea region of Ukraine, but we are awaiting a determination from OFAC on that application. We are deeply sorry the U.S. government has determined that we have to block these learners, and we are working diligently to rectify this situation as soon as possible.