Kinetic Theory of Gases
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Clausius, the gadfly, and the power of asking penetrating questions
As I shared previously (here), in 1857 Rudolf Clausius published [1] his derivation of the kinetic theory of gases in which he connected the world of moving and colliding atoms to the ideal gas law: PV = nRT. Based on his work, Clausius hypothesized that absolute temperature is proportional to the average kinetic energy of… Continue reading
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Revisiting the kinetic theory of gases
My vision is to develop a ground-up understanding of thermodynamics based on connecting the micro-world of moving and interacting atoms to the macro-world of thermodynamic phenomena and the classical equations used to describe them. In the below post, which I previously shared, I delve into the originating micro-to-macro work of Clausius, Maxwell, and Boltzmann when… Continue reading
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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, and… Continue reading
Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics. “Hanlon has written a masterpiece.” – Mike Pauken, Senior Engineer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and author of Thermodynamics for Dummies
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About Me
Hi! I’m Bob Hanlon. After earning my Sc.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and enjoying a long career in both industry and academia, I’ve returned to school, my own self-guided school, seeking to better understand the world of thermodynamics. Please join me on my journey.
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