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

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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

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Thermodynamics - Twitter Search

I just realized I have 5 hours break tomorrow. I'm going to spend it studying electronics in the lib! Yay. For now, theo and thermodynamics.
superdhebz (Debie Grace Bersabal) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:21:45 -0000
I just realized I have 5 hours break tomorrow. I'm going to spend it studying electronics in the lib! Yay. For now, theo and thermodynamics.
@yesthatkarim Over-unity device ? Doesn't this violate the first law of thermodynamics ?
ericloganvanman (✌ Eric Logan ✌) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:19:32 -0000
@yesthatkarim Over-unity device ? Doesn't this violate the first law of thermodynamics ?
It's not a violation of thermodynamics because it's not a closed system. ( #steorn live on http://livestream.com/steorn )
EclipticStar (Evan McCarvill) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:42:10 -0000
It's not a violation of thermodynamics because it's not a closed system. ( #steorn live on http://livestream.com/steorn )
Ilya Prigogine can examine closely how Newton influenced Hegel. Scottish followers of Newton were thermodynamics professionals.
kimarx (Kim, YiChul 金利哲) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:36:55 -0000
Ilya Prigogine can examine closely how Newton influenced Hegel. Scottish followers of Newton were thermodynamics professionals.
Check this video out -- First Law of Thermodynamics/ Internal Energy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb05CaG7TsQ
teslacky (bill robishaw) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:22:32 -0000
Check this video out -- First Law of Thermodynamics/ Internal Energy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb05CaG7TsQ
Studying Remote Sensing and Thermodynamics at It's A Grind. Can't wait for tomorrow to be over.
jjabraham (Justin Abraham) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:10:46 -0000
Studying Remote Sensing and Thermodynamics at It's A Grind. Can't wait for tomorrow to be over.

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