Video lectures by Pervez Hoodbhoy in English and Urdu
These lectures are suitable for undergraduate level teaching (years 16-20) and provide the conceptual foundations of thermodynamics. Although several examples are worked out here, for a fuller grasp of the subject students should work out at least some problems in the texts recommended below.
Module 1.1 (Watch it in English here and in Urdu here)
- Heat, temperature
- Zero’th Law of Thermodynamics
- Thermometers
- Absolute zero
- Third Law of Thermodynamics
- Can there be a highest temperature?
Module 1.2 (Watch it in English here and in Urdu here)
- Conversion of energy from one form to another
- Units of heat and energy
- Internal energy (example: ideal gas)
- Thermodynamic variables and equation of state
- Isolated, closed and open systems
- First Law of Thermodynamics (circa 1840)
- Exact and inexact differentials
Module 1.3 (Watch it in English here and in Urdu here)
- Adding heat to a system
- Various heat capacities of a substance
- Enthalpy and its uses
- Moles: a quick reminder from chemistry
- Measuring heat capacities
- Heat capacities of a non-ideal gas
Module 1.4 (Watch it in English here and in Urdu here)
- Reversible and irreversible processes
- Isothermal expansion of a gas
- Adiabatic expansion of a gas
- Free expansion of a gas
- Application: speed of sound
Module 1.5 (Watch it in English here and in Urdu here)
- Entropy – a qualitative understanding
- Entropy – formal definition
- Entropy as a state function
- Thermodynamic cycles
- Worked example
Module 2.1 (Video coming soon. Stay tuned)
- Heat engines and efficiency
- Carnot engine
- Second Law of Thermodynamics
- Equivalence between Clausius and Kelvin statements
- The Carnot Engine is universal – proof
- Analyzing the Carnot engine
- Solved example
Module 2.2 (Video coming soon. Stay tuned)
- Absolute temperature defined
- The Clausius inequality – Derivation
- The Clausius inequality – Consequences
- Why the entropy of the universe has to increase
- Using Entropy as a State Variable
- Solved Example I
- Solved Example II
Module 2.3 (Video coming soon. Stay tuned)
- Helmholtz Free Energy
- Gibbs Free Energy
- Application to chemical reactions
- Melting and Gibbs Free Energy
- Open Systems and Gibbs Free Energy
- Chemical Potential – physical interpretation
- Chemical Potential for an ideal gas
Module 2.4 (Video coming soon. Stay tuned)
- Examples of phase transitions
- Melting of ice – worked example
- Euler’s theorem and molar quantities
- Clausius-Clapeyron Equation – derivation
- Phase diagrams
- First and second order phase transitions
Module 2.5 (Video coming soon. Stay tuned)
- Black body radiation
- Planetary temperatures from Stefan-Boltzman Law
- Radiation pressure
- Entropy of a photon gas
- Thermodynamics of the expanding universe
Recommended textbooks and materials:
- Feynman Lectures in Physics – chapters 44, 45, 46
- Principles of Thermodynamics, Jean-Philippe Ansermet and Sylvain D. Brechet
- Essential Classical Thermodynamics, Ulf W. Gedde
- Problems and Solutions on Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, World Scientific
