Thermodynamics: Principles and Applications
 First Edition |
The subject of thermodynamics requires a thorough understanding of the various abstract quantities. This makes thermodynamics rather tricky and difficult to understand not only for students but also for academics outside of the engineering field. Vladimir I. Arnold, an eminent mathematician, once stated that, "every mathematician knows it is impossible to understand an elementary course in thermodynamics!" In many engineering disciplines, thermodynamics is considered one of the basic engineering courses. This book is intended for use in such a course, usually taken in the sophomore year. I have provided the background material needed for students to solve practical problems related to thermodynamics. My approach is to stress the fundamentals rather than spoon-feed the subject matter. The material presented in this book can be covered in one semester. Chapter 1 defines the terms commonly used in thermodynamics and introduces the concepts of heat and temperature. The concepts of "state/path function" and "reversible process" play a vital role in the solution of problems in the abstract world of thermodynamics. Chapter 2 talks about the calculation of work for reversible and irreversible processes. Chapter 3 examines the pressure-volume-temperature behavior of pure substances. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are extensively covered in Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. These two chapters can be regarded as the heart of this book. The last chapter, Chapter 6, is devoted to the thermodynamics of energy conversion. |
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