PHYS160 - Thermodynamics - The Laws of Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics as a subject came out of the industrial revolution and the desire to see how much work can be produced from a steam engine. The subject of thermodynamics however is of much greater utility and generality. This course is the first of a series of courses on the subject. This course is meant to provide an introduction to some of the concepts used in thermodynamics, and then to express the laws of thermodynamics using those concepts.

Although this course is meant to be an introductory course, it assumes basic knowledge of mechanics (in particular the concept of work) and of calculus.

The course outline is as follows:

• Introduction
• Preliminary Concepts
  • Terminology
    • Systems
    • Properties
    • Equilibrium
    • Processes
  • State Variables
    • Temperature
    • Pressure
    • Volume
    • Other State Variables
    • Equations of State
  • PVT Systems and Processes
    • Work and Energy
    • Isobaric Processes
    • Isochoric Processes
    • Isothermal Processes
    • Adiabatic Expansion
  • Configuration Work
  • Mechanical Equivalent of Heat
  • The nature of physical laws
• The Laws of Thermodynamics
  • The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
  • The First Law of Thermodynamics
    • The Concept of Internal Energy
    • Statements of the First Law of Thermodynamics
  • The Second Law of Thermodynamics
    • Definition of Entropy
    • The T-S Diagram
    • The Carnot Cycle
    • Entropy and Irreversible Processes
      • Adiabatic Free Expansion
      • Heat Flow Between Two Bodies at Different Temperatures
      • Other Irreversible Processes
    • Statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
  • The Third Law of Thermodynamics
• Summary

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