This title is a supplement to lectures and tutorials in a Thermodynamics course and also serves as a guide to more comprehensive texts. Rather than merely hurrying through the principles and then dealing with applications, the book presents the scientific method by discussing the science of thermodynamics starting from empirical observations that are relatable to students. For example, the book uses everyday experiences, such as a cup of hot tea cooling spontaneously, to arrive at the Second Law and Entropy through the idea of the heat engine. All the fundamentals are covered and illustrated with examples that resonate with the broad concerns and interests of students who take STEM classes today. The book examines the thermodynamics of hydrogen and gasoline engines, fuel cells versus the explosive combustion of hydrogen, how efficiently organisms and Spiderman utilize energy, the fizzing of a can of soda and decompression sickness, and how atmospheric carbon dioxide affects ocean p H and, worryingly, dissolves the calcium carbonate shells of marine animals, and also, what might happen if you inadvertently fall into a salt lake.
Thermodynamics is presented as the macroscopic approach to understanding Nature when heat is involved. The book draws upon the idea of microstates where that clarifies the macroscopic ideas: entropy of mixing of gases is linked to Boltzmann and Gibbs’ entropy formulations, thus motivating the formulation of the chemical potential of non-ideal systems in terms of their activities. Thermodynamics contains deep insight into the passage of Time. In the discussions of the Second Law the book highlights this, emphasizing that all the processes we observe in our universe are irreversible.
Adopting an informal and readable style without compromising the rigour in this book, the goal is to help a broad audience of students appreciate the essential meaning of the Laws of Thermodynamics and to apply the fundamental framework at an elementary level.
Contents:
- Heat and Internal Energy
- Zeroth and First Laws
- Applications of the First Law
- Heat Engines and the Carnot Cycle
- The Second Law
- Absolute Zero
- Fundamental Equations
- Phase Equilibrium
- Simple Models
- The Van der Waals Fluid
- Applications of Phase Equilibrium
- Chemical Equilibrium
- Harnessing Chemical Energy
Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of Thermodynamics, physical chemistry; engineering science; integrated science.
Key Features:
- This book should help both beginning specialist and generalist students acquire an essential understanding of the Laws of Thermodynamics and the ability to apply them at the elementary level. To introduce the Laws of Thermodynamics, we foreground the scientific method. Everyday observations, such as hot tea cooling spontaneously, are used to arrive at the Second Law and Entropy through the idea of the heat engine. We discuss all four Laws in some detail, in the first half of the book, rather than rushing through these to get to the practical applications
- Thermodynamics is the macroscopic approach to understanding Nature when heat is involved. We provide a complete treatment of ‘pure’ Thermodynamics drawing upon the microscopic picture of matter only when that intuitively clarifies macroscopic properties and phenomena, such as the entropy of mixing of gases. Aside from being important in a practical way, Thermodynamics provides fundamental insight into the passage of Time. We discuss this at various points, illustrating with example calculations of irreversible processes, and emphasizing that all processes observed in Nature are irreversible
- The principles are illustrated throughout using many examples that are, hopefully, relevant to the broad concerns and interests of students today rather than just focusing on the technical details. A theme that runs through these examples is the thermodynamic efficiency of any machinery, including organisms. This is of broad relevance to current concerns of energy and environment
- We include a chapter on simple models that are commonly used in applying thermodynamic principles, with a separate short chapter on the van der Waals fluid as an accessible model that exhibits a phase change. The mathematics used is elementary algebra and basic high school calculus; our emphasis is on understanding the physical principles. Thus, this book can well serve as an accessible guide for the thoughtful lay person trying to learn Thermodynamics on their own
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