Publisher's Synopsis
Thermodynamics is the study of energy conversion between heat and mechanical work, and subsequently the macroscopic variables such as temperature, volume and pressure. Its progenitor, based on statistical predictions of the collective motion of particles from their microscopic behavior, is the field of statistical thermodynamics, a branch of statistical physics. Thermodynamics is the field of physics that deals with the relationship between heat and other properties (such as pressure, density, temperature, etc.) in a substance. Specifically, thermodynamics focuses largely on how a heat transfer is related to various energy changes within a physical system undergoing a thermodynamic process. Such processes usually result in work being done by the system and are guided by the laws of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics can be broken down into four laws. Although adding to the laws of thermodynamics after the other three laws, the zeroth law. It states that if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. In other words, if two systems are the same temperature as a third system, then all three are the same temperatures. A fluid is anything that would spill or float away if it weren't in a container (unless it's big enough to be held together by gravity like a star). If you can stir it up with a spoon or blow it through a straw, it's a fluid. Water is a fluid and so is air. In fact, all liquids and gases are fluids. In space and inside stars, there's also another kind of fluid called a plasma. It is well known that matter is divided into solids and fluids. Fluids can be further divided into Liquids and Gases. It is taught in schools, rightly so, that solids have a definite shape and a definite size, while the liquids have a definite size, but no definite shape. They assume the shape of the container they are poured into. Gases on the other hand have neither a shape nor a size. They can fill any container fully and assume its shape. A solid resists a shear force while a fluid deforms continuously under the action of a shear force. The book is basic in the sense that it begins at the beginning and is entirely self-contained. It is also comprehensive and contains detailed descriptions of modern techniques in thermodynamics. The aim has been to make the subject matter broadly accessible to advanced students, whilst at the same time providing a reference text for graduate scholars and research scientists active in the field.
