Post on 03-Jan-2016
Interesting web pages:1. Summer activities2. Books and Projects3. Acoustics DVD set4.Question of the Week5.Ph is Ph E-mail list
Thermodynamics is a funny subject. The first time you go through the subject, you don’t understand it at all. The second time you go through it, you think you understand it, except for one or two small points. The third time you go through it, you know you don’t understand it, but by that time you are so used to the subject that it doesn’t bother you any more.
- Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951)
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
If objects A and B are each inthermal equilibrium with a thirdobject C, objects A and B are inthermal equilibrium with each
other.
First Law ofThermodynamics
Conservation of energy appliesto the sum of all forms of energy
for an isolated system.
Thermodynamics of DietingFinal weight = Initial weight
+ caloric intake – calories used
Weight loss by:1. respiration2. perspiration3. elimination
One lb ~ 2500 calories (depends on metabolism)Weight (lbs) x 15 ~ base metabolism rate (ave.)
Second Law ofThermodynamics
No system for converting energybetween various forms
can operate at 100% efficiency.
Factors affecting earth temperature:1. The sun.2. Clouds.3. Forests.4. Dust (1816, the year with
no summer: Mt. Tambora,Indonesia, volcaniceruptions, April 1815)
Factors affecting earth temperature:1. The sun.2. Clouds.3. Forests.4. Dust.5. Water vapor.6. Ethane, methane, etc.
Factors affecting earth temperature:1. The sun.2. Clouds.3. Forests.4. Dust.5. Water vapor.6. Methane, ethane, etc.7. Aerosols.
Factors affecting earth temperature:1. The sun.2. Clouds.3. Forests.4. Dust.5. Water vapor.6. Methane, ethane, etc.7. Aerosols.8. Carbon dioxide.
Duke University Study (April 2006):1. Solar heating effect underestimated2. Removing CO2 by reforestation may
have significant side affects3.Climate less sensitive to greenhouse
gases than generally believed4.Climate warming effect probably has
been overestimated
The coming “Ice Age” of the 1970s:“... extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation.”
- Science magazine (1976)“the world’s climatologists are agreed” that wemust “prepare for the next ice age.”
- Science Digest (1973)“Warning: Earth’s Climate is Changing FasterThan Even Experts Expect.”
- Christian Science Monitor (1974)“... may mark the return to another ice age.”
- New York Times (1975)“… a major cooling of the climate is widely consideredinevitable.”
- New York Times (1975)
Advantages of Nuclear Power:1. Can be done NOW.2. NO carbon dioxide.3. Safe.4. Price competitive.5. Long-term.
Patrick Moore: Going NuclearA Green Makes the Case(for Nuclear Power)OUTLOOK, Washington Post, April 16, 2006
In the early 1970s when I helped found Greenpeace, I believed that nuclear energy was synonymous with nuclear holocaust, as did most of my compatriots. ….
…. Thirty years on, my views have changed, and the rest of the environmental movement needs to update its views, too, because nuclear energy may just be the energy source that can save our planet from another possible disaster: climate change.
"It doesn’t matter what is true; what matters is what people think is true."
Founder, Greenpeace (2000)
Phony picture: moon and sun over North pole ice floats
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/northpole.asp