Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Introduction to Thermodynamics

          Thermodynamics is the study and application of the thermal energy (often called the internal energy) of systems.One of the central concepts of thermodynamics is temperature. Since childhood, We have been developing a working knowledge of thermal energy and temperature. For example, you know to be cautious with hot foods and hot stoves and to store perishable foods in cool or cold compartments. You also know how to control the temperature inside home and car, and how to protect yourself from wind chill and heat stroke.
           Examples of how thermodynamics figures into everyday engineering and science are countless. Automobile engineers are concerned with the heating of a car engine, such as during a NASCAR race. Food engineers are concerned both with the proper heating of foods, such as pizzas being microwaved, and with the proper cooling of foods, such as TV dinners being quickly frozen at a processing plant. Geologists are concerned with the transfer of thermal energy in an El Niño event and in the gradual warming of ice expanses in the Arctic and Antarctic. Agricultural engineers are concerned with the weather conditions that determine whether the agriculture of a country thrives or vanishes. Medical engineers are concerned with how a patient’s temperature might distinguish between a benign viral infection and a cancerous growth.

           The starting point in our discussion of thermodynamics is the concept of temperature and how it is measured.

Reference: 
David Halliday, Jearl Walker, and Robert Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics 10th edition



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