I believe that a better understanding of thermodynamics is available by explaining the connections between the micro-world of moving and colliding atoms that attract and repel each other and the macro-world of classical thermodynamics. My goal is to identify and clarify such micro-to-macro connections. To ensure that I’m addressing true needs of the science community,Continue reading “Thermodynamic “pain point” results – here are your responses”
Category Archives: entropy
What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics?
What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics? What are the stumbling blocks you encounter when trying to understand the physical meaning behind such thermodynamic equations and phenomena as Gibbs Free Energy, Joule-Thomson expansion, phase change, and even the physical properties of matter, including heat capacity and absolute temperature? Could you please share these with me inContinue reading “What are your personal “pain points” with thermodynamics?”
The Road to Entropy – Boltzmann and his probabilistic entropy
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) brought his mastery of mathematics to the kinetic theory of gases and provided us with our first mechanical understanding of entropy. To Boltzmann, his work proved that entropy ALWAYS increases or remains constant. But to others, most notably Josef Loschmidt (1821-1895), his work contained a paradox that needed to be addressed. LoschmidtContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Boltzmann and his probabilistic entropy”
The Road to Entropy – The kinetic theory of gases & heat capacity
I believe that an improved approach to teaching thermodynamics can be created by starting with the atomic theory of matter and then explaining the connections between this theory and macroscopic thermodynamic phenomena. This micro-to-macro approach arguably began in the late 19th century when a small group of scientists, namely Rudolf Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell, andContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – The kinetic theory of gases & heat capacity”
The Road to Entropy – Clausius, Gibbs, and increasing entropy
At the conclusion of his famed 1865 paper announcing the discovery of a new property of matter that he named entropy, Rudolf Clausius stated: the entropy of the universe tends to a maximum. This statement came as a total surprise to me as there was no prior supportive discussion behind it, and it had meContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Clausius, Gibbs, and increasing entropy”
The Road to Entropy – Clausius undaunted
Have you ever experienced that wondrous “Eureka!” moment of insight when you’ve discovered some hidden secret of nature? Archimedes did when he realized that the volume of water displaced is equal to the volume of the body submerged. Kekulé did when discovered benzene’s structure. Hubble did when he discovered that the stars are all movingContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Clausius undaunted”
The Road to Entropy – James Joule and the power of his curiosity (video)
James Joule could have observed what he did and then done nothing with it. Instead, he became driven to understand and explain it and so discovered the mechanical equivalent of heat, a forerunner of the concept of energy and the 1st law of Thermodynamics. His story is a good one, an inspiring one, an exampleContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – James Joule and the power of his curiosity (video)”
The Road to Entropy – Sadi Carnot’s use of analogy to create his “flawed” masterpiece (video)
The commercialization of the high-pressure steam engines by the Cornish Engineers of Britain inspired Sadi Carnot, a French military engineer, to analyze these engines and seek the theories to guide their improvement. If you’re interested in doing a deep dive into Sadi Carnot’s work, here are two excellent references. I go into much more depthContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Sadi Carnot’s use of analogy to create his “flawed” masterpiece (video)”
The oldest surviving steam engine is on display at the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation in Michigan
I was traveling in Michigan this past week and took a day to visit the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation. All I can say is, WOW! Together with the adjacent Greenfield Village, well worth the visit. The Innovation Museum offers great displays of engine technologies, including the oldest surviving steam engine in the world, aContinue reading “The oldest surviving steam engine is on display at the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation in Michigan”
The Road to Entropy – Phil Hosken on Richard Trevithick and the invention of the high-pressure steam engine (video)
As shared in my previous post (here), the historical road to entropy started with Denis Papin’s development of the piston-in-cylinder assembly and Thomas Newcomen’s and James Watt’s subsequent efforts to commercialize and continuously improve fire engines or atmospheric engines built around this assembly. Steam at atmospheric pressure was employed in these engines, not as aContinue reading “The Road to Entropy – Phil Hosken on Richard Trevithick and the invention of the high-pressure steam engine (video)”
Identifying the Micro behind the Macro 