What is thermodynamics ? [ EDU Science ]

 What do you mean by thermodynamics? What is thermodynamics?

Thermodynamics means the study of heat in motion.

Thermodynamics = Thermo(Heat) + Dynamics(Motion)

Definition: Thermodynamics is a science that describes how thermal energy is converted from one form to the other and how it affects matter.

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, radiation, and physical properties of matter. 

Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering, especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and other complex fields such as meteorology.

What do you mean by thermodynamics?

Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early steam engines, particularly through French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency was the key could help France win the Napoleonic Wars. Scots-Irish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formulate a concise definition of thermodynamics in 1854 which stated, "Thermo-dynamics is the subject of the relation of heat to forces acting between contiguous parts of bodies, and the relation of heat to electrical agency."

Branches of thermodynamics

Classical thermodynamics

Classical thermodynamics describes the states of thermodynamic systems at near-equilibrium, which uses macroscopic, measurable properties.

Statistical mechanics

Statistical mechanics, also known as statistical thermodynamics, emerged with the development of atomic and molecular theories in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Chemical thermodynamics

Chemical thermodynamics is the study of the interrelation of energy with chemical reactions.

Equilibrium thermodynamics

Equilibrium thermodynamics is the study of transfers of matter and energy in systems or bodies.

Laws of thermodynamics

First Law

The first law of thermodynamics states: In a process without transfer of matter, the change in internal energy, ΔU, of a thermodynamic system is equal to the energy gained as heat, Q, less the thermodynamic work, W, done by the system on its surroundings.

Second Law

A traditional version of the second law of thermodynamics states: Heat does not spontaneously flow from a colder body to a hotter one.

Third Law

The third law of thermodynamics states: As the temperature of a system approaches absolute zero, all processes cease and the entropy of the system approaches a minimum value.