Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work. The behaviour of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics.
Who Discovered Thermodynamics?
The field of thermodynamics was developed from the work of Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot who believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars.
The Scottish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to come up with a concise definition of thermodynamics. His definition 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."
What Are the Four Laws of Thermodynamics?
The four laws of thermodynamics are as follows.
- If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. This law helps define the concept of temperature.
- When energy passes, as work, as heat, or with matter, into or out from a system, the system's internal energy changes in accord with the law of conservation of energy. Equivalently, perpetual motion machines of the first kind (machines that produce work with no energy input) are impossible.
- In a natural thermodynamic process, the sum of the entropies of the interacting thermodynamic systems increases. Equivalently, perpetual motion machines of the second kind (machines that spontaneously convert thermal energy into mechanical work) are impossible.
- The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero. With the exception of non-crystalline solids (glasses), the entropy of a system at absolute zero is typically close to zero, and is equal to the natural logarithm of the product of the quantum ground states.
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