Origin of Oil
It is very hard to underestimate the significance of oil for the development of human civilization. The oil is used to produce gasoline, jet fuel, synthetic materials, plastic, synthetic oils,…
CLAUSIUS-CLAPEYRON-EQUATION
During the phase transition of pure substance, its temperature remains constant and the process is also isobaric. This phenomenon indicates that under the equilibrium of phase changing (two coexisting phases),…
DERIVING MAXWELL’S RELATIONS
So far we have derived the differential forms of the four thermodynamic potentials in which we're interested and have identified their natural variables. This is summarised in the following table:…
Thermodynamic Potentials
Thermodynamic potentials are used to measure the energy of a system in terms of different variables because often we can only measure certain properties of the system. For example we…
What is the Third Law of Thermodynamics?
Entropy, denoted by ‘S’, is a measure of the disorder/randomness in a closed system. It is directly related to the number of microstates (a fixed microscopic state that can be…
The Clausius Theorem and Inequality
The equal sign in the Clausius inequality above applies only to the the ideal or Carnot cycle. Since the integral represents the net change in entropy in one complete cycle, it attributes a…
Temperature and Temperature Scales
Celsius Scale Celsius, or centigrade, is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the most commonly used temperature units. Celsius, also known as centigrade, is…
What is Carnot’s theorem?
Carnot’s theorem also known as Carnot’s rule was developed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in the year 1824, with the principle that there are limits on maximum efficiency for any…
Heat Pumps and Refrigerators
A heat pump is a device that transfers heat energy from a heat source to a heat sink against a temperature gradient. Heat pumps, air conditioners, and refrigerators utilize heat…
