Text

• Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Thermodynamics, III Edition, Sears and Salinger (Addison- Wesley)

Grading

• Will be based on four exams, with each exam having a 25% weight.
• Problems in the exams will be based on examples done in the class, suggested problems, and exercises given throughout the course.

Description

The zeroth law of thermodynamics and the concept of temperature. The First law and the conservation of energy. The Second law and the direction of natural process. Carnot's engine. Concept of entropy. Absolute scale of temperature. The Third law and simple applications. The principle of statistical mechanics: Thermodynamic weight, Statistical mechanical ideas of entropy and the connection with thermodynamics; the Maxwell-Boltzmann, the Bose-Einstein, and the Fermi-Dirac distributions.

Objectives

After completing this course the students

• will know the basic principles and laws of thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics and their mathematical formulation as well as methods of investigations of basic thermodynamic phenomena.
• will have clear idea about the limits of applicability of physical model and theories used in this course.
• will know the role of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the scientific and technical progress.
• will have mastered and practiced the application of simple mathematical techniques to solve basic problems, and hence will be able to apply these to actual physical problems.

Contents

• Basic concepts
  • Brief historical perspective - thermodynamics and statistical physics
  • Definitions of various thermodynamic terms
  • Concepts of work, energy, temperature and temperature scales
  • Zeroeth Law of thermodynamics
• First Law of thermodynamics
  • Equivalence of heat and mechanical energy - Joule's experiment
  • First Law of thermodynamics as a statement of conservation of energy
  • Internal energy - a state function
  • dQ equations
  • Applications of the First Law
    • Joule's free expansion
    • Specific heats of bodies
    • Internal energy of an ideal gas
    • Works done on an ideal gas in isothermal and adiabatic processes
• Exam I

• Second Law of thermodynamics
  • Direction of a natural process
  • Kelvin versus Clausius statements of the Second Law
  • Carnot engine and its efficiency
  • Carnot's theorem and the absolute scale of temperature
  • Concept of entropy and Clausius' theorem
  • Properties of entropy
  • Examples of Calculations of entropy, TdS equations
• Exam II

• Equilibrium of systems and thermodynamic potentials
  • Isolated systems, entropy never decreases
  • Constant volume processes and Helmholtz free energy
  • Constant pressure processes and Gibbs free energy
  • Maxwell's laws
• Third Law of thermodynamics
  • Third Law of thermodynamics or the Nernst Heat theorem
  • Experimental evidence of the Third Law - Lange's experiment
  • Some applications of the Third Law
  • Unattainability of absolute zero
• Simple thermodynamic analysis of systems
  • Van der Waal's equation and law of corresponding states
  • Blackbody radiation
• Exam III

• Statistical Mechanics
  • Brief history of the development of statistical mechanics
  • Basic concepts - microstates and macrostates, phase space trajectory
  • Ensemble, ergodic theorem
  • Fundamental postulate - postulate of equal a prori probability
  • Thermodynamic weight W and total number of possible microstates
  • Counting W, cases of indistinguishable and distinguishable particles
  • Bose-Einstein, Fermi-Dirac, and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics
  • Connection with thermodynamics
• Exam IV

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Jose F Nieves