Thermodynamics 101 - 1

Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and
their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The
behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which
convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities,
but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics.
Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering,
especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and mechanical
engineering, but also in other complex fields such as meteorology.
Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early

steam engines, particularly through the work of French physicist Sadi Carnot (1824) who
believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic
Wars.[1] Scots-Irish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formulate a concise definition
of thermodynamics in 1854[2] which stated, "Thermo-dynamics is the subject of the
relation of heat to forces acting between contiguous parts of bodies, and the relation of
heat to electrical agency." German physicist and mathematician Rudolf Clausius
restated Carnot's principle known as the Carnot cycle and gave to the theory of heat a
truer and sounder basis. His most important paper, "On the Moving Force of Heat",[3]
published in 1850, first stated the second law of thermodynamics. In 1865 he introduced
the concept of entropy. In 1870 he introduced the virial theorem, which applied to heat.[4]
The initial application of thermodynamics to mechanical heat engines was quickly

extended to the study of chemical compounds and chemical reactions. Chemical
thermodynamics studies the nature of the role of entropy in the process of chemical
reactions and has provided the bulk of expansion and knowledge of the field. Other
formulations of thermodynamics emerged. Statistical thermodynamics, or statistical
mechanics, concerns itself with statistical predictions of the collective motion of
particles from their microscopic behavior. In 1909, Constantin Carathéodory presented
a purely mathematical approach in an axiomatic formulation, a description often referred
to as geometrical thermodynamics.
Introduction
A description of any thermodynamic system employs the four laws of thermodynamics

that form an axiomatic basis. The first law specifies that energy can be transferred
between physical systems as heat, as work, and with transfer of matter.[5] The second
law defines the existence of a quantity called entropy, that describes the direction,
thermodynamically, that a system can evolve and quantifies the state of order of a system
and that can be used to quantify the useful work that can be extracted from the system.[6]
In thermodynamics, interactions between large ensembles of objects are studied and

categorized. Central to this are the concepts of the thermodynamic system and its
surroundings. A system is composed of particles, whose average motions define its
properties, and those properties are in turn related to one another through equations of
state. Properties can be combined to express internal energy and thermodynamic
potentials, which are useful for determining conditions for equilibrium and spontaneous
processes.
With these tools, thermodynamics can be used to describe how systems respond to
changes in their environment. 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, corrosion engineering,
aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, cell biology, biomedical engineering,
materials science, and economics, to name a few.[7][8]
This article is focused mainly on classical thermodynamics which primarily studies

systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is often
treated as an extension of the classical treatment, but statistical mechanics has brought
many advances to that field.

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Thermodynamics

Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early

The initial application of thermodynamics to mechanical heat engines was quickly

A description of any thermodynamic system employs the four laws of thermodynamics

In thermodynamics, interactions between large ensembles of objects are studied and

This article is focused mainly on classical thermodynamics which primarily studies

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