Introduction:
Thermodynamics is a science in which storage, the transformation, and the transfer of energy are studied.
Definition of thermodynamics:
Energy is stored as internal energy (associated with temperature), kinetic energy (due to motion), potential energy (due to elevation) and chemical energy (due to chemical composition); it is transformed from one of these forms to another; and it is transferred across a boundary as either heat or work.
In thermodynamics mathematical equations are developed that relate the transformations and transfers of energy to material properties such as temperature, pressure, or enthalpy.
Substances and their properties thus become an important secondary theme.
Much of work is based on experimental observations that have been organized into mathematical statements, or laws; the first and second laws of thermodynamics are the most widely used.
The engineer’s objective in studying thermodynamics is most often the analysis or design of a large-scale systems anything from an air conditioner to a nuclear power plant.
Such a system may be regarded as a continuum in which the activity of the constituent molecules is averaged into measurable quantities such as pressure, temperature, and velocity.