Thermodynamics

Physics 202, Lecture 6

1

The first law: a heat engine balances internal energy, heat and work

Physics 202, Lecture 6

2

The ideal gas provides the simplest system to consider in thermodynamics

Physics 202, Lecture 6

3

Work done by an ideal gas within isothermal and adiabatic process can becalculated

Physics 202, Lecture 6

4

The Carnot heat engine is reversible and is therefore the upper bound onefficiency

Physics 202, Lecture 6

5

Another perspective on entropy: energy irreversibly lost to mechanicalwork

Physics 202, Lecture 6

6

Any decrease in system entropy must come from a larger increase some-where else

Physics 202, Lecture 6

7

Practical questions about the most efficient use of global energy is chal-lenging

Physics 202, Lecture 6

8

Nearly all electricity generated in the US comes ultimately from steamengines

Physics 202, Lecture 6

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