6
Physics 1 with Laboratory.
FIS/01 – FIS/08
Oral exam.
The course provides the elements that complete and extend the knowledge of thermodynamics introduced in the course of Physics 1 with Laboratory, up to the connection with the microscopic interpretation of its laws. The presentation follows the typical phenomenological approach of physics courses, without neglecting the more advanced mathematical aspects such as the formulation of the general equations, the introduction of the axiomatic formulation of thermodynamics or an outline of continuum thermodynamics.
Course contents: Elements of thermology and calorimetry: review of the basic concepts of thermal phenomena. Temperature and heat. Macroscopic description of systems: thermodynamic states, state variables, state functions. Transformations of thermodynamic systems. Coefficient of thermal expansion. Compressibility coefficient. Equations of state. The ideal gas. Heat capacity and specific heat. Heat transfer. Fourier’s diffusion equation.
Transformations of work and heat: thermodynamic work. Equivalence between work and heat. Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics. Adiabatic transformations. Transformations of heat into work. Thermodynamic cycles. The second law of thermodynamics and its formulation in terms of the irreversibility of processes or of the limits on the performance of heat engines. Carnot’s theorem. The thermodynamic temperature scale. The state function entropy. Irreversible processes and the increase of entropy. The third law of thermodynamics.
Applications of thermodynamics: Entropy of simple systems. Entropy changes in reversible and irreversible transformations. Thermodynamic potentials. Real gas systems. Phase transitions. The Clapeyron equation. Introduction to the axiomatic formulation of thermodynamics. Outline of the equations of continuum thermodynamics.
Elements of statistical thermodynamics: Microscopic reversibility and macroscopic irreversibility. Maxwell’s kinetic theory of the ideal gas. Boltzmann distribution and its applications. Statistical interpretation of the energy exchanges of heat and work. Statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics.
On completion of the course, students must demonstrate that they
Command of the knowledge acquired, clarity of presentation, rigour in the use of language, confidence in using the notions acquired.
