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Thermodynamics (from the Greek thermos meaning heat and dynamis meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. Roughly, heat means "energy in transit" and dynamics relates to "movement"; thus, in essence thermodynamics studies the movement of energy and how energy instills movement. Historically, thermodynamics developed out of the need to increase the efficiency of early steam engines.
Overview
The starting point for most thermodynamic considerations are the laws of thermodynamics, which postulate that energy can be exchanged between physical systems as heat or work. They also postulate the existence of a quantity named entropy, which can be defined for any system. In thermodynamics, interactions between large ensembles of objects are studied and categorized. Central to this are the concepts of system and surroundings. A system is composed of particles, whose average motions define its properties, which in turn are related to one another through equations of state. Properties can be combined to express internal energy and thermodynamic potentials are useful for determining conditions for equilibrium and spontaneous processes.
With these tools, thermodynamics describes how systems respond to changes in their surroundings. This can be applied to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering, such as engines, phase transitions, chemical reactions, transport phenomena, and even black holes. The results of thermodynamics are essential for other fields of physics and for chemistry, chemical engineering, cell biology, biomedical engineering, and materials science to name a few.
History
More on [ Thermodynamics ]
Does the first law of thermodynamics univocally define the relative proportions of heat and work? http://bit.ly/7ZLWWy
ItsTheLawMan (Its The Law) Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:51:54 -0000
Does the first law of thermodynamics univocally define the relative proportions of heat and work? http://bit.ly/7ZLWWy
@jesscot That's not a bad idea, actually. The white meat needs less heat and that would do it. Thermodynamics FTW.
elforesto (Jesse Harris) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:29:51 -0000
@jesscot That's not a bad idea, actually. The white meat needs less heat and that would do it. Thermodynamics FTW.
Bljr se gw maleh..bku b.ing lo..takalok se gw lae mah..RT @helendaekaputri: go internasional nday...RT @an_day: Thermodynamics and heat tra
an_day (andayani putri) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:25:16 -0000
Bljr se gw maleh..bku b.ing lo..takalok se gw lae mah..RT @helendaekaputri: go internasional nday...RT @an_day: Thermodynamics and heat tra
go internasional nday... RT @an_day: Thermodynamics and heat transfer..ndeeh,,ndk ado versi b.ind nyo koh?
helendaekaputri (Helenda Eka Putri) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:21:55 -0000
go internasional nday... RT @an_day: Thermodynamics and heat transfer..ndeeh,,ndk ado versi b.ind nyo koh?
Thermodynamics and heat transfer..ndeeh,,ndk ado versi b.ind nyo koh?
an_day (andayani putri) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:12:44 -0000
Thermodynamics and heat transfer..ndeeh,,ndk ado versi b.ind nyo koh?
By the end of today, I'm going to have done over 400 questions from Heat and Thermodynamics. God that is so sad :x
LilBoCreep (Bo Vani) Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:08:46 -0000
By the end of today, I'm going to have done over 400 questions from Heat and Thermodynamics. God that is so sad :x
500
Heat - A webquest prepared by two students.
Science Snacks About Heat - A set of very simple experiments featured by Exploratorium, each one with details on materials, assembly, how can be done, and an explanation of the physical laws involved.
Thermodynamics - A summary of the main concepts from the NASA website.
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