T. KORAKIANITIS Thermodynamics class (ME 320A)	"Korakianitis" is pronounced phonetically
email: tk@me.wustl.edu	link: [ 183 kB audio wav]

Here is what most undergraduate thermodynamics classes and books start with. Temperature is... well, you know what it is. If you have any doubts about temperature, then we will conduct experiments with buckets of hot and cold water, ending with a lukewarm feeling. You also know what are energy (e) and heat (q), or they are intuitively obvious. Please accept that the first law of thermodynamics for a closed system is de = dq - delta w, where w is work. (Except, if you do not know what energy e and heat q are, along with the equation these are three "please accept" statements wrapped into one). Of course you also know what entropy is, and please accept that the second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a closed system undergoing adiabatic processes (which you also know what they are) can not decrease. If you feel particularly uncertain about entropy we will "clarify" its meaning with statistical thermodynamics, and in the process we may even introduce a "demon". In what other engineering (or scientific) subject has one accepted such imprecise definitions? If you can not find another example, then why should you accept this inexactitude (to put it mildly) in thermodynamics?

If you find the above confusing, then take ME 320A to learn that thermodynamics is a very precise science, more general than all the other sciences. . We will start from logical statements and carefully define each concept based on theoretical, fundamental and practical understanding of its meaning and use. The statement of the first and second laws will be discussed until everyone accepts that each of these statements (the laws as presented, using previously-defined and unambiguous concepts) are intuitively obvious, and only then we will point out that there is no proof, ie they are axioms. In the process we will learn why the statements of the first paragraph above are absurd. We will cover the correct definitions and usage of all the above and several other concepts, including how to use these concepts in practical applications.

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