"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 study of the relationships between thermal and mechanical energy.
Introduction to Thermodynamics: Basics of thermodynamics, laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamic properties, and processes.
Equations of State: Introduction to different equations of state, ideal gas law, van der Waals equation, and compressibility factor.
Laws of Thermodynamics: Zeroth law, first law, second law, and third law of thermodynamics.
Internal Energy and Enthalpy: Definitions of internal energy and enthalpy, calculation of internal energy and enthalpy changes for different processes.
Heat and Work: Heat transfer, work done in various processes, pathways to heat/work transfer.
Entropy: Introduction to entropy, calculation of entropy changes for different processes, calculation for irreversible processes.
Phase Equilibria: Phase diagrams, vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid equilibria, phase stability and instability, Gibbs-Duhem equation.
Thermochemistry: Standard enthalpy of reactions, Hess's law, calculation of heat effects for different reactions.
Chemical Potential: Definition of chemical potential, chemical potential in ideal and non-ideal gases, chemical potential and phase equilibria.
Statistical Mechanics: Introduction to statistical mechanics, calculation of thermodynamic properties using partition function and Boltzmann distribution.
Kinetic Theory: Introduction to kinetic theory, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, calculation of thermodynamic properties using kinetic theory.
Heat Engines and Refrigerators: Introduction to different types of heat engines and refrigerators, Carnot cycle, Clausius-Clapeyron equation.
Thermodynamics of Mixtures: Ideal solutions, activity coefficients, colligative properties, phase equilibria in mixtures.
Electrochemical Thermodynamics: Introduction to electrochemical reactions, Galvanic cells, Nernst equation, pH and redox reactions.
Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Introduction to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, linear and nonlinear systems, entropy production.
Classical Thermodynamics: This is the study of macroscopic behavior of matter in response to changes in temperature, pressure, and other external factors.
Statistical Thermodynamics: Unlike classical thermodynamics, this branch deals with the microscopic behavior of matter and the statistical properties of the particles.
Quantum Thermodynamics: This branch deals with the application of quantum mechanics to thermodynamic systems and problems.
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics: This branch deals with the behavior of systems that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium and the causes of the deviation from equilibrium.
Black Hole Thermodynamics: This is the application of thermodynamics concepts to black holes.
Relativistic Thermodynamics: This field combines thermodynamics with Einstein's theory of relativity and aims to describe the behavior of matter in a gravitational field.
"The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities."
"The behavior of these quantities may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics."
"Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering, especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering, but also in other complex fields such as meteorology."
"Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early steam engines."
"French physicist Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars."
"Scots-Irish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formulate a concise definition of thermodynamics in 1854."
"German physicist and mathematician Rudolf Clausius restated Carnot's principle known as the Carnot cycle and gave the theory of heat a truer and sounder basis."
"His most important paper, 'On the Moving Force of Heat,' published in 1850, first stated the second law of thermodynamics."
"In 1865 he introduced the concept of entropy."
"In 1870 he introduced the virial theorem, which applied to heat."
"The initial application of thermodynamics to mechanical heat engines was quickly extended to the study of chemical compounds and chemical reactions."
"Chemical thermodynamics studies the nature of the role of entropy in the process of chemical reactions."
"Statistical thermodynamics, or statistical mechanics, concerns itself with statistical predictions of the collective motion of particles from their microscopic behavior."
"In 1909, Constantin Carathéodory presented a purely mathematical approach in an axiomatic formulation, a description often referred to as geometrical thermodynamics."