ABSTRACT

This fully updated and expanded new edition continues to provide the most readable, concise, and easy-to-follow introduction to thermal physics. While maintaining the style of the original work, the book now covers statistical mechanics and incorporates worked examples systematically throughout the text. It also includes more problems and essential updates, such as discussions on superconductivity, magnetism, Bose-Einstein condensation, and climate change. Anyone needing to acquire an intuitive understanding of thermodynamics from first principles will find this third edition indispensable.

Andrew Rex is professor of physics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He is author of several textbooks and the popular science book, Commonly Asked Questions in Physics.

chapter 1|18 pages

Temperature

chapter 2|24 pages

Reversible Processes and Work

chapter 3|30 pages

The First Law of Thermodynamics

chapter 4|28 pages

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

chapter 5|28 pages

Entropy

chapter 6|34 pages

Statistical Mechanics

chapter 8|24 pages

General Thermodynamic Relations

chapter 9|16 pages

Magnetic Systems

chapter 10|28 pages

Phase Changes

chapter 11|16 pages

Open Systems and Chemical Potential

chapter 12|14 pages

The Third Law of Thermodynamics

chapter 13|38 pages

Quantum Statistics