Lecture

Introduction to Thermodynamics

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

In course

PHYS-106(h): General physics : thermodynamics

Le but du cours de Physique générale est de donner à l'étudiant les notions de base nécessaires à la compréhension des phénomènes physiques. L'objectif est atteint lorsque l'étudiant est capable de prévoir quantitativement les conséquences de ces phénomène ...

Description

This lecture introduces the concepts of macroscopic and statistical descriptions in thermodynamics, covering the principle zero of thermodynamics, state variables, microscopic and macroscopic properties, pressure, collisions at the microscopic level, equilibrium states, reversible and irreversible processes, and the definition and behavior of temperature in systems.

Instructor

Ivo Furno

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Jules Amédée Aristobule Schadt, Renat Karimov, Amélie Renggli, Yuri Asnis, Michael Goddijn, Vanni Jonas Meier, Cyrille Sepulchre, Francesco D'Angelo Past EPFL PhD Students Federico Nespoli, Oulfa Chellai, Thibaut François Hugo Richard, Fabian Manke, Riccardo Agnello, Alexandra Waskow, Lorenzo Ibba, Agus Rita, Kadi Lyes Roland Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Davoud Iraji, Christian Gabriel Theiler, Alexandre Dominique Bovet, Fabio Avino Courses General physics : thermodyn

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Thermodynamics: Statistical mechanics

Related concepts (29)

Irreversible process

In science, a process that is not reversible is called irreversible. This concept arises frequently in thermodynamics. All complex natural processes are irreversible, although a phase transition at the coexistence temperature (e.g. melting of ice cubes in water) is well approximated as reversible. In thermodynamics, a change in the thermodynamic state of a system and all of its surroundings cannot be precisely restored to its initial state by infinitesimal changes in some property of the system without expenditure of energy.

Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities, but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics.

Reversible process (thermodynamics)

In thermodynamics, a reversible process is a process, involving a system and its surroundings, whose direction can be reversed by infinitesimal changes in some properties of the surroundings, such as pressure or temperature. Throughout an entire reversible process, the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, both physical and chemical, and nearly in pressure and temperature equilibrium with its surroundings. This prevents unbalanced forces and acceleration of moving system boundaries, which in turn avoids friction and other dissipation.

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is a branch of thermodynamics that deals with physical systems that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium but can be described in terms of macroscopic quantities (non-equilibrium state variables) that represent an extrapolation of the variables used to specify the system in thermodynamic equilibrium. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is concerned with transport processes and with the rates of chemical reactions.

Quasistatic process

In thermodynamics, a quasi-static process (also known as a quasi-equilibrium process.the Latin quasi, meaning ‘as if’), is a thermodynamic process that happens slowly enough for the system to remain in internal physical (but not necessarily chemical) thermodynamic equilibrium. An example of this is quasi-static expansion of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas, where the volume of the system changes so slowly that the pressure remains uniform throughout the system at each instant of time during the process.

Related lectures (64)

Thermodynamics in Cell Biology

Explores the role of thermodynamics in cell biology, focusing on the connection between thermodynamics and cellular processes.

Entropy and Thermodynamics: Microstates and Macrostates

Covers the concepts of microstates and macrostates in thermodynamics, focusing on entropy and its implications for isolated systems.

Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Discusses entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, and their implications in thermodynamic systems.

Second Principle: Entropy

Explores the second principle of thermodynamics, emphasizing entropy's role in system evolution and equilibrium.

Thermodynamics: Exploring the Second Principle and Entropy