1
Introduction: Temperature and Some
Comment on Work
Just as Newton first conclusively showed that this is a world of
masses, so [Sadi Carnot and] Willard Gibbs first revealed it as
a world of systems.
—L.J. Henderson in The Order of Nature [1] [p. 126 (1917)].
Abstract
This introductory chapter informs the reader that this book is a disquisition of
heat and energy. Understanding of heat and energy has two general requirements: the reader must achieve mastery of both the first law of thermodynamics
and the second law of thermodynamics, and the reader must appreciate the
difference between thermodynamic objects as systems and mechanical objects as
mere mass bodies. Treatment of heat begins, in this chapter, with the
introduction of the intensity of heat, i.e., temperature, and equation of state
for ideal gases and ideal-gas mixtures.
Keywords
Heat Á Thermodynamic system Á Thermodynamic equilibrium Á Temperature Á
Ideal gases Á Thermal equation of state for ideal gases Á Mixtures of ideal gases Á
Dalton’s law Á Work
Thermodynamics is mainly concerned with relation between heat and mechanical
work. This relation is prescribed by two premises, one of which is equivalence
between heat and mechanical work (equivalence principle) established by Mayer
and Joule (the other premise is Carnot’s principle). A central question addressed by
this title is the meaning of this “equivalence”.
Thermodynamics is a theory of heat. At the present time, the prevailing theory is
the mechanical theory of heat (MTH). One remarkable thing about MTH is that
there are no suitable definitions on heat and energy in MTH; the most commonly
used ones are “heat is energy in transit,” and “energy is the capacity for doing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L.-S. Wang, A Treatise of Heat and Energy, Mechanical Engineering Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05746-6_1
1
Introduction: Temperature and Some
Comment on Work
Just as Newton first conclusively showed that this is a world of
masses, so [Sadi Carnot and] Willard Gibbs first revealed it as
a world of systems.
—L.J. Henderson in The Order of Nature [1] [p. 126 (1917)].
Abstract
This introductory chapter informs the reader that this book is a disquisition of
heat and energy. Understanding of heat and energy has two general requirements: the reader must achieve mastery of both the first law of thermodynamics
and the second law of thermodynamics, and the reader must appreciate the
difference between thermodynamic objects as systems and mechanical objects as
mere mass bodies. Treatment of heat begins, in this chapter, with the
introduction of the intensity of heat, i.e., temperature, and equation of state
for ideal gases and ideal-gas mixtures.
Keywords
Heat Á Thermodynamic system Á Thermodynamic equilibrium Á Temperature Á
Ideal gases Á Thermal equation of state for ideal gases Á Mixtures of ideal gases Á
Dalton’s law Á Work
Thermodynamics is mainly concerned with relation between heat and mechanical
work. This relation is prescribed by two premises, one of which is equivalence
between heat and mechanical work (equivalence principle) established by Mayer
and Joule (the other premise is Carnot’s principle). A central question addressed by
this title is the meaning of this “equivalence”.
Thermodynamics is a theory of heat. At the present time, the prevailing theory is
the mechanical theory of heat (MTH). One remarkable thing about MTH is that
there are no suitable definitions on heat and energy in MTH; the most commonly
used ones are “heat is energy in transit,” and “energy is the capacity for doing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L.-S. Wang, A Treatise of Heat and Energy, Mechanical Engineering Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05746-6_1
1