Unit X: Thermodyanmics
General concepts introduced in this section:
- The distinction between things that have a definite quantity in a state (state functions), and functions that depend on the path taken (non-state functions).
- The idea of spontaneous reactions
- The idea of reverisile and irreverisble processes
- Making a clear distinction between work and energy
Specific concepts introduced in this section
- U
- The internal energy
- Work
- Process dependent. Related to the area under a PV graph (V on the horizontal axis). Recall that work is positive
when volume decreases, and work is negative when the volume increases.
- Heat
- Process dependent. Can be thought of as an insertion of "disordered energy".
Related to the area under a TS graph (S on the horizontal axis). Heat is positive when entropy
increases (i.e. adding "disordered energy" leads to more randomness). Heat is negative when
entropy decreases.
- Entropy
- A measure of the amount of disorder in the system.
DLs and FNTs for this section
DL and FNTs 14-18 cover this material.