ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, we sharpened our computational skills and gained an appreciation for the particle model of gases. We now turn our attention to matters of energy and energy flow according to the laws of thermodynamics. In the Math Review chapter, we showed that energy can flow between various forms of kinetic and potential energy but that overall energy is conserved and only the form is changed. Many things can be said about thermodynamics. Mainly, thermodynamics owes more to the steam engine than the steam engine owes to thermodynamics. That means that Watt [1] and other inventors built steam engines and got them to work using raw mechanical reasoning and then thermodynamics was developed=discovered to understand the principles of the engine. We will try to help you gain a foundation of understanding if you will follow along and use pencil and paper to write out some derivations rather than just read the text. It should be understood that while physics majors develop expertise in electromagnetic theory far more than chemistry majors, it is generally true that chemistry majors gain a better understanding of thermodynamics. Chemical engineers use thermodynamics as their main expertise, although augmented by kinetics and transport theory, so the chemistry professionals should take pride that thermodynamics is ‘‘their thing,’’ their chance to shine in terms of the scientific method.
