thermodynamics

name: thermodynamics description: Heat, energy, and entropy principles license: MIT compatibility: opencode metadata: audience: physicists category: physics

What I do

• Apply the four laws of thermodynamics
• Calculate heat transfer and work processes
• Analyze thermodynamic cycles (Carnot, Rankine, refrigeration)
• Model heat engines and refrigerators
• Study phase equilibria and chemical potential
• Apply Maxwell relations and thermodynamic identities

When to use me

When analyzing energy systems, designing heat engines, or studying thermal processes.

Key Concepts

• First Law: ΔU = Q - W, energy conservation
• Second Law: ΔS ≥ 0, entropy never decreases in isolated systems
• Carnot Efficiency: η = 1 - T_c/T_h for heat engines
• Clausius Inequality: ∮δQ/T ≤ 0 for cyclic processes
• Gibbs Free Energy: G = H - TS determines spontaneity at constant T,P
• Maxwell Relations: (∂S/∂V)_T = (∂P/∂T)_V connect thermodynamic variables