Thermodynamics - Much more interesting than you think!. |Sci-Hut

THERMODYNAMICS: much more interesting than you think!

Ever heard of the topic called thermodynamics?!
If you didn't, don't worry we'll tell you in the best possible way. Some of you might be thinking, "Oh no,
here we go again with the boring science lesson of thermodynamics!".But trust me you're soon gonna find it interesting.
I am gonna tell you a mind-boggling fact, that is,
The refrigerator and air conditioner you use,   actually use heat for cooling.
Yes, you read it right!. Shocking stuff !!! right?
Refrigerators use a technology in which they reverse the usual process of heating of particles. A lot of thermodynamics is involved in this.

Basically, Thermodynamics tells us about heat, work,

temperature and energy and the relation ♡♡♡♡  between them.

Temperature vs Heat

When we heat something, it's temperature rises and we think that ultimately they both are the same.

But, it's not. Yes, they are somewhat related but are different topics.

In thermodynamics,

 Heat refers to the total energy of motion in a molecular substance and it depends upon no. of particles and speed of particles.

• *Generally refers to warmness
• *Temperature on the other hand is the measure of the average energy of molecular motion in a substance and it doesn't depend on size or type of object.
• *Measures warmness and coolness both.

Note: If we take two objects with the same temperature and bring them close to each other, no transfer of energy will take place. But one of them is hotter than the other energy transfer will take place until their avg. temperature becomes the same (from hotter object to cooler object)

Thermal Expansion

We all have noticed that the smell of hot sizzling food reaches our nose very fast.

Well, there's thermodynamics in that too!

When we heat something it's temperature rises and its molecule absorbs heat and also starts moving faster and farther away from each other.

Solids expand in length, area, volume. (Of course not in the same direction.)

Let's not get into formulas right now but if you're interested, you can go and read more about thermal expansion and it's formulas.

Caution: Never put hot boiling water in a glass which just came out of the freezer ,(All I want to say is an expansion of material depends upon how much the temperature has changed.)

The opposite is also true, we know that matter expands when heated and it also contracts when it's cooled.

Now, let's have a look at an important theory called the Kinetic molecular theory of Gases.

Kinetic theory of Gases 

Gases were among the first substances which were studied using modern scientific methods in the 1600s

It was observed that all gases had some common physical behaviors.

This observation allowed the gases to be described in single theories.

• *Matter consists of smaller particles which are constantly on the move 
• * In gases, space between these particles is the most as compared to solids and liquids.
• *Gas occupies all the space present, most of the space covered by its volume is empty and thus gas can expand and contract under proper circumstances.

Now let's understand what this law says:-

As the particles of gas are always in motion and

because of this particles of two or more gases will collide with each other. The no. of collisions they(particles) make with the wall of the container and the force with which they collide determine the magnitude of the gas pressure.

(source : opentextbc.ca/introductorychemistry/chapter/kinetic-molecular-theory-of-gases-2/)

First Law of Thermodynamics

It states that:-
The total energy of an isolated system is constant;
energy can be transformed fro one form to another but can neither be created nor destroyed.
And what on Earth is an isolated system?

In physical science, isolated system can be defined as any one of the following systems:-
i)A physical system so far removed from other systems that it doesn't interact with them
ii)A Thermodynamic system enclosed by rigid immovable walls through which neither mass nor energy can pass.
(source: Wikipedia)

Second Law of Thermodynamics 
The second law states that " Don't study thermodynamics too much your brain will explode."
"That's it chapter finished !."
Really?!

Add caption

"Nah, Just joking"

Bad joke, I know. OK Let's move on to the second law of thermodynamics.
The second law says that, as the energy is transformed or transferred some parts of it is keeps on getting wasted.
  Saibal Mitra, a professor teaching physics at Missouri State University says that this law simply says that if we have an isolated system then any natural signs of progress in that direction will be in the increasing disorder, or entropy of the system.  

The Carnot Cycle  
The Carnot cycle is a thermodynamic cycle in which there are 4 successive operations involved namely,
i)Isothermal Expansion
ii)Adiabatic Expansion 
iii)Isothermal Expansion
iv) Adiabatic Compression
During these operations, the expansion and compression of substance can be done up to the desired point and back to the initial state.

Now what are these complex-sounding processes?
Well, these aren't that hard, trust me.

• Isothermal Expansion: Simply means, an increase in volume under constant temperature conditions.
• Adiabatic Expansion: A closed system in which pressure is constant and the temperature's decreasing

• Adiabatic Compression: Compression in which no heat transfer takes place from the air and the internal energy of air is increased which is equal to the external work done on the air.

Entropy 

• It's just a thermodynamic property that represents the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.

That's it, no kidding.
Chapter's finished and you guys have understood a lot more than just basics of thermodynamics. Thank you so much for reading and for more scientific knowledge keep visiting our blogs. We'll keep publishing about interesting science topics just like this. Till then bye-bye.

         A short review of this chapter

• Thermodynamics generally starts with several basic concepts and leads to different thermodynamics laws. 
• A thermodynamic system is a quantity of matter, which is defined by its boundary. In this chapter after a short review of thermodynamic laws, Nano-thermodynamic and thermodynamic properties of nano sized systems are presented. 
• They are essential topics in nanosize engineering examples. Since it is necessary to know the energy transactions( the action or process of converting something especially energy or message into another form) that occurs between living organisms and cells, the biological thermodynamics is considered.

• Credits:- Research from the following sites 
• Shmoop.com, Wikipedia.org, Byju's.com and Live Science.com
• Pictures and images from: Pixabay.com