Thermo-CD Tutorial

How to use Thermo-CD
Keep this window open while you are running Thermo-CD for the first time. If you prefer, you can download a 9-page pdf version of this page that you can print and keep handy. Right-click here to download a pdf that prints one page on an 8.5"x11" page. Right-click here to download a pdf that prints two pages on an 8.5"x11" page reducing the document ot just 5 printed pages. Follow along screen by screen and step by step so that you learn to use all of the features of Thermo-CD. Click on the screen image from Thermo-CD for each step. Then, read the notes for the step. Finally, try out the feature in theThermo-CD program and proceed to the next step. If you have any questions about how to use a feature in Thermo-CD... Click here to send an email message to B-Cubed.
Step 1		This is the opening screen of Thermo-CD. All of the buttons work without a password, but you will need a password to access the chapters, examples and quizzes. Roll your mouse pointer over each button to see a brief description of what it does. We'll take a closer look at what each button does later in this tutorial. If you have a password, click the "Log-In" button. If you do not have a password, click the "Get Password" button on the Thermo-CD homepage to request one from B-Cubed.
Step 2		When you click the "Log-In" button this log-in screen appears. The "Log-In" button is the default button, so if you hit enter at the opening screen the lon-in screen will appear. Shortcuts like this can save you some time. Type your first name and press the enter key. Then, type your last name. Thermo-CD checks to see if you name is in our roster. If it is, you are prompted to enter your password. If your password is correct, the log-in screen, button and messge disappear and all of the buttons become fully functional. Now, let's see what some of these buttons do.
Step 3		Click on the "Book Marks" button in the opening screen to open the bookmarks page. You will probably get an error that reads "Error reading the bookmark file..." Thermo-CD saves your bookmarks on a floppy disk and you probably don't have one in drive A. Insert a floppy in drive A and click the "Bkmk Disk" button to creat an empty bookmark file on your floppy. If you prefer, to download a demo bookmark file that I prepared for you. Right-click here. In Internet Explorer, choose "Save Target As...", in Netscape, choose "Save Link As..." Then, save this file to a floppy disk and put it in your A drive.
	Keep this disk handy so you will always have access to your bookmarks ! If you downloaded my bookmark file and put on the floppy in drive A, you can click the "Try Again" button and then your bookmark screen should look a lot like the one shown here. Click on any line in the bookmark display to select that bookmark. The "Edit" button allows you to change Your Notes for that bookmark. The up and down arrows allow you to move the selected bookmark up or down in your bookmark list. The "UnDo" button un-does the last edit or bookmark move that you made. You can ONLY un-do the last change that you made. The exit button closes the bookmark screen and takes you back to where you were before, in this case, the opening screen. The "GoTo" button lets you jump to the page that is selected in the bookmark display. Don't try it just yet because we need to finish looking at all the options on the opening page. So, for now, just click the "Exit" button to return to the opening page.
Step 4		Back at the opening page, click the "Glossary" button to open the page titled Glossary of Terms. The glossary opens with a list of all of the terms in Thermo-CD that begin with the letter A. These terms are listed in the window on the left-hand side. The definition of the first term in the list and the chapter, lesson and page on which the term is first introduced in Thermo-CD appear on the right-hand side of this screen. Click on any term in the list on the left to see its definition on the right.
	You can also scroll up and down through the terms using the up and down arrow keys. Click on any letter in the alaphbet bar at the bottom of the page to see the terms in Thermo-CD that begin with that letter. You can move up and down through the alphabet using either the page-up and page-down keys or the left and right arrow keys. The "Go !" button takes you to page on which the term displayed in the right-hand window was first introduced. Don't try the "Go !" button just yet because I want to finish discussing the buttons in the opening screen. The "Exit" button closes the Glossary of Terms and and takes you back to where you were before, in this case, the opening screen. Click the "Exit" button now.
Step 5		The "First-Aid Kits" button does not work in the web version of Thermo-CD. When you roll your mouse pointer over the "Thermo Data" button you will see a description of the information available when you click this button. Unfortunately, the Thermo-Tools are not available in the web version of Thermo-CD either. Sorry. Click on the "Thermo Data" button now. A page of links appears. Each link is a potential source of thermodynamic data that will help you solve the problems in Thermo-CD. The two NIST links are the most useful of all.
	When you click on one of these links, a new browser window will open and display the webpage that leads to some useful thermodynamic data. You might want to bookmark some of these pages. That's all there is to this screen. Click the "Main Menu" button to return to the opening screen.
Step 6		All of the buttons on the opening screen have shortcut keys. L = Learn, B = Bookmarks, G = Glossary, F = First-Aid Kits, T = Thermo Data and X = Exit. Try these ! When you click the "Learn" button or press "L", the Chapters Panel opens. You can click on a chapter or press the chapter number key, such as "3" to open the Lessons Panel for that chapter. Note that the "0" key open the lesson panel for Chapter 10. The Lessons Panel lists the names of all of the lessons in the chapter that you selected. Click the "Close" button to close both the Chapters and Lessons Panels.
	If the chapter you have selected is currently available on the web, a "Go !" button and three radio buttons will appear inthe area between the two panles. Click on the words "Chapters", "Examples" or "Quizzes" to select which type of information you would like to view within the selected chapter. Select Chapter 4 and "Chapter" and click the "Go !" button to open Chapter 4.
Step 7		This is the Lessons Menu that appears at the beginning of each chapter in Thermo-CD. Roll your mouse pointer over each lesson title to view a brief description of the lessons. We will come back to discuss the menu items on the Lessons Menu page. If you click on a lesson, that lesson will open. Each lesson also has a shortcut key. If you press the "C" key, Lesson C will open. For now, click on Lesson D to open the first page of the lesson.
Step 8		This is a typical page of information in Thermo-CD. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of taking NOTES while running Thermo-CD. You take notes during lectures, don't you ? So, be sure to take notes during the Mini-Lectures of Thermo-CD. The act of writing something down dramatically increases the probability that you will remember it ! In the banner bar at the top of the page, you can see the title of this page: "Why Do We Need A Problem Solving Procedure."
	At the bottom center of the page a small Location Panel displays the chapter, lesson and page that you are currently viewing, in this case Lesson 2D, page 1 of the 14 pages in this lesson.. Roll your mouse pointer over the arrow to the right of the Location Panel. A "tip" tells you that clicking this page will take you to the next page in this lesson, page 2. The arrow to the left of the Location Panel will usually take you to the previous page in the lesson. Here, the arrow is inactive because there is no page previous to page 1 in this lesson ! The most important button on the page is the small button in the lower left-hand corner. It also has a "tip" and it tells you something that you probably already guessed. This is a "Play" button. Click it to hear the Mini-Lecture that explains the information you see on this page. The Mini-Lectures are the heart and soul of Thermo-CD. In the banner bar, next to the page title, are three animated icons. These icons are active on all pages in all lessons, but not in the lessons menu. Roll your mouse over the the icon that looks like an open book. The pages flip and a "tip" bubble appears. The tip tells you that this icon is a link to the Bookmarks page that we discussed back in Step 3.
Step 9		Now, roll your mouse pointer over the next icon that looks like a closed book with a question mark on it. The question mark begins to flash and another "tip" bubble opens. This tip tells you that if you click this icon the hyperlinked Glossary that we discussed back in Step 4 will open.
Step 10		Roll your mouse pointer over the next icon that looks like a pen writing on a page in a book. The pen begins to write in the book and yet another "tip" appears. The tip tells you that clicking this icon will let you add this page to your list of bookmarks. You will need to put a floppy disk in drive A to do this. If there is no disk in drive A or there is no Bookmark file on the floppy in drive A you will get an error message and you will allowed to try again, give up or create a new Bookmark file. Click the icon.
Step 11		The Add Bookmark window opens. Floppies are slow, so be patient when writing bookmarks. In this window, you can type a 40 character note to remind yourself why you bookmarked this page. When your note is complete, just hit enter to save the bookmark to your floppy. The Add Bookmark window disappears and you can get back to work.
Step 12		Click on the "4D - Pages" pull-down menu in the gray menu bar at the top of the page. A list of all of the pages in the lesson drops down. You can select any page in the list and you will immediately jump directly to that page. Try it ! Notice also that there is a shortcut key for every page in the lesson. Press "CTRL-8" to jump to page 8 without using the pull-down menu. Notice that the numbers are followed by the alphabet in the shortcut keys. So, "CTRL-A" will take you to page 10 and "CTRL-C" would take you to page 12 if there was one in this lesson ! X, Y and Z are the shortcut keys reserved for example problems.
Step 13		The first time you visit and Example page in a given session of Thermo-CD, the page looks like this. The timer is counting down to launching the example problem. You may not always wish to branch to the example problem because there will be a slight delay while the example loads. You have 2 seconds to change your mind about viewing the example problem You can change your mind by simply navigating to a different page in the lesson before the timer expires. When the time runs out, the example problem opens.
Step 14		If you go directly from the opening screen to an example, you will see a menu like the one shown here. If you enter the example from an Example Page in a lesson, you will skip this menu and go directly to the appropriate example problem. Roll your mouse pointer over the numbers in the boxes. A brief descripton of the example problem will appear. Click on the example number that you want to see or select the problem from the "Example Problems" pull-down menu.. Select Example #1 from Lesson 2C to follow along with the next four steps.
Step 15		Page 1 of an example problem always presents a problem statement and usually includes a disgram that will help you understand what is happening in the problem. If there is enough space on the page, the solution will begin. The first step in the solution of this problem is to state the values that are given or known. The Add Bookmark icon is missing. You cannot bookmark pages in an example problem. The Location Panel tells you the chapter, lesson, problem number and page number of the screen that you are viewing, in this case Lesson 2E, Problem #1 and page 1 of 14 pages in the example problem.
	Some Example Problems, but not all, have Mini-Lectures. Click the play button, if there is one, to hear the Mini-Lecture. When Thermo-CD ships on CD in January of 2003, all of the pages in all of the example problems will have Mini-Lectures.
Step 16		This is an example of a screen you might see in an Example Problem. It includes, text, a plot, a portion of a data table that was captured from one of the Thermo Data links discussed in Step 5. Don't forget the Mini-Lecture !
Step 17		The answers to Example Problems always appear in gold boxes like the one shown here. The text on the screen and the Mini-Lecture often discuss and interpret the answers that are obtained in Example Problems.
Step 18		All Example Problems that require more than one or two calculations conclude with the Excel Spreadsheet that I used to perform the calculations. I suggest you use Excel or another computer tool for all of your calculations because it helps you document your work and calculation errors can be more easily corrected than if you did the calculations on a calculator. In order to help you learn to make neat, clear, complete spreadsheet solutions for your homework problems, I will include the Excel files for all of of the Example Problems in the First-Aid Kits that will ship with Thermo-CD in January, 2003.
Step 19		The shortcut key "S" will take you to the last page of the lesson, which is always the Summary Page. A Summary Page presents a very brief review of the material covered in the lesson. The "Done" button will take you back to the Lessons Menu that we discussed back in Step 7. The "Quiz" button will take you to the quiz that covers the material in the lesson that you just completed.
Step 20		Thermo-CD automatically bookmarks the last page that you viewed so you can return to it when you run the program again. However, this information is not saved unless: Your Bookmarks floppy is in drive A when you quit the program AND You close the program properly. If you just close the Thermo-CD window, your last page bookmark will not be saved. So, how do you properly shut down Thermo-CD ?
	Click on the "File" pull-down menu in the upper left corner of the page. From here you can either return to the main menu or opening screen of Thermo-CD or you can completely close Thermo-CD. Either way, your Bookmark file will be updated. Now, pull down the "Lessons" menu and and select "Lessons Menu." Notice the checkmark that appears next to lesson D. This indicates that you have already viewed some portion of that lesson in your current session of Thermo-CD.
Step 21		If you go directly from the opening screen to a quiz, you will see a menu like the one shown here. Click on the example or quiz you want to see or press the appropriate letter key. Press "E" to go to the quiz for lesson E. If you enter the quiz from a Summary Page, you will skip this menu and go directly to the first question or problem of the appropriate quiz.
Step 22		This screenshot shows a typical multiple-choice question inThermo-CD. This is the kind of feedback you will get when you get a question wrong You generally get less feedback when you get a question right. If you entered the quiz from the Quizzes Menu, you can choose a different problem within this quiz or you can choose a quiz from a different lesson or chapter using the pull-down menus. The Location Panel tells you the lesson and problem number that you are working on. In this case, we are looking at problem number 1 of the 3 problems that make up the quiz for lesson 2E.
	Your score on this problem and on this quiz are displayed in the lower left corner of the page. The "Continue" button will take you to the next problem in this quiz. Finally, the Add Bookmark icon is missing. You cannot bookmark pages in a quiz.
Step 23		This is an example of a quiz problem. Short answer questions require text answers, but Quiz Problems require numerical answers. Quiz Problems usually require you to use your notes from the lesson and also Excel or a calculator. You may also need to look up some thermodynamic data in one or more of the links that I presented back in Step 5. Type your answer in the gray box and hit enter to see if is correct.
	If you got the problem wrong you will get a brief explanation and the correct answer. If the problem has multiple parts, you should re-work any parts of the problem that you get wrong before proceeding to the next part. At the end of a muli-part problem you will be given the option to see the problem solution. This solution is just like an example problem. At the end the quiz, click the "Done" button and you will return to the Quizzes Menu if that is how you entered the quiz. If you entered the quiz from a Summary Page, you will return to that Summary Page.