Thermodynamics
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that studies the movement of heat between different objects. Thermodynamics also studies the change in pressure and volume of objects. It is normally studied by using a branch of mathematics called statistics to look at the motion of particles. Thermodynamics also has 2 main branches called classical thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. An important idea in thermodynamics is that of systems. A system is an object or a group of objects that is being studied.
[edit] Laws of thermodynamics
In thermodynamics, there are 4 laws of thermodynamics that say that energy can be moved between two objects in the form of heat.
- Zeroth law of thermodynamics
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- If two systems have equal heat and one of the two systems has equal heat with another system, all three systems have equal heat.
- First law of thermodynamics
- Second law of thermodynamics
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- The temperature of systems that touch each other will become equal.
- Third law of thermodynamics
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- When a system has a temperature of absolute zero (the lowest temperature), the entropy (energy that cannot be used to do work) is at 0.
[edit] Uses of thermodynamics
In the past, thermodynamics was studied to make steam engines work better. Now, ideas from thermodynamics are used in everything from making engines to studying black holes.
