Reading assignment

Handout: Understanding ThermodynamicsBy H. C. Van Ness

Reading assignment

Handout: Understanding ThermodynamicsBy H. C. Van Ness

Next class we will discuss:Van Ness article

•What is a ‘System’?•What are we interested in measuring abouta System?•What is energy?•Quantization of energy.

Administrative

Hmwk #1 Assigned today 1/14/05Due Friday 1/21/05

Monday Jan 17th MLK Day, no class

Wednesday Jan 19th I’m out of town. Aryo Roywill review probability statistics

Thermal Physics

“Thermal physics is a difficult subject to learn, partlybecause of the subtleness of its concepts, the lack organizing mathematical statements analogous toNewton’s equations of motion in mechanics, and the paucity of models, other than the ideal gas, that canbe solved by simple techniques.”

Harvey GouldClark University

Thermal Physics

“Thermal physics is a difficult subject to learn, partlybecause of the subtleness of its concepts, the lack organizing mathematical statements analogous toNewton’s equations of motion in mechanics, and the paucity of models, other than the ideal gas, that canbe solved by simple techniques.”

Harvey GouldClark University

Challenge: Understanding concepts. Applyingthem to solve problems.

All defined with respect to the system!

“We would very much like to get rid of the surroundingsbecause of their infinite complexity, but we can’t reallyignore them. However, we can make our formula look like it deals only with the system. … by [associating]changes in the surroundings with the boundaries of thesystem.”

H. C. Van Ness

2 Experiments: first two failures of classical (Newtonian) mechanics

(behaves as a wave)