The first and second laws of thermodynamics
The first and second laws of thermodynamics
Syllabus Aims
- You should be able to state the first law of thermodynamics.
- You should be able to state the second law of thermodynamics and the Clausius inequality.
- You should be able to determine, by reading a description of a physical process, whether or not heat/work is output/input from the system during said process.
- You should be able to construct partial differential equations using the equation of state for the ideal gas.
- You should be able to explain what it means when we state that entropy is a state function or exact differential.
- You should be able to derive an expression for the work done by a system when it expands adiabatically.
- You should be able to distinguish processes in which the entropy changes from those in which it does not.
- You should be able to write expressions for the change in internal energy during adiabatic and isochoric processes.
- You should be able to relate intensive thermodynamic variables to partial derivatives of the internal energy.
- You should be able to combine the first and second laws of thermodynamics in order to get an expression for an infinitesimal change in the internal energy.
- You should be able to write an expression for the change in internal energy that occurs when the value of one particular extensive variable changes while all others remain fixed.
- You should be able to explain why the intensive quantities have a uniform value across all phases that are in equilibrium.
- You should be able to state the optimality conditions placed on the internal energy and entropy for a system in equilibrium.
Description and link | Module | Author | ||
| Some written notes on the laws of thermodynamics and their consequences. | AMA4004 | G. Tribello |
Description and link | Module | Author | ||
| An introduction to the first law of thermodynamics. | AMA4004 | G. Tribello | ||
| An introduction to the second law of thermodynamics | AMA4004 | G. Tribello | ||
| Combining the first and second laws of thermodynamics | AMA4004 | G. Tribello |
Description and link | Module | Author | ||
| Problems involving the first and second laws of thermodynamics. | AMA4004 | G. Tribello |
Contact Details
School of Mathematics and Physics,
Queen's University Belfast,
Belfast,
BT7 1NN
Email: g.tribello@qub.ac.uk
Website: mywebsite