Principles of classical thermodynamics

Abstract

The paper outlines the current presentation of thermodynamic principles to the combined Part I Engineering students at the University of Hong Kong. By considering all bodies taking part in a process, the first and second laws of thermodynamics are presented without the use of work or heat—terms which cannot be generally defined without anticipating the second law. The experimental data necessary to know substances thermodynamically are their internal energy functions, their isotherm functions, and their equations of chemical equilibrium—all in terms of pressure p. specific volume v, and the degree of advancement of chemical processes c. Thermodynamic temperature functions, affinity functions and entropy functions may be derived from these data. The paper concludes with a discussion of interactions between bodies in terms of work and heat.