Thermodynamics for Dummies
Hot for the science of energy? Thermodynamics for Dummies® is the ultimate user-friendly guide to energy, how it’s used, and how it changes from one form to another. Whether you’re interested in how your car’s engine works or why your refrigerator stays cool, Mike Pauken offers a lively and comprehensive look at the answers.
Pauken begins with the basics, explaining how energy can be made to perform work and how work can be used to move energy. He highlights the processes that comprise a thermodynamic system, and defines enthalpy, specific heat, and other terms. We also take a first look at the laws of thermodynamics themselves, and what they tell us about temperature, energy conservation, entropy, and absolute zero.
From here we turn in detail to the specific uses of those laws. After a thorough look at the conservation of mass and energy, we focus in particular on the second law, which harnesses the notion of entropy. A basic analogy, says Pauken, is that a thermodynamic process starts with energy flowing from a reservoir at a high elevation, does something useful (like spin a motor), and ends with the remaining energy settling in another reservoir at a lower elevation.
Pauken goes on to describe how the first and second laws work in engines, power plants, and your fridge and air conditioner. How do we measure their efficiency, and how can they be improved? You’ll see! Finally, we see how gases behave and relate to each other in different situations. The ideal-gas law and the details of combustion are among the highlights here.
Complete with a list of 10 “famous names in thermodynamics”—spotlighting everyone from Anders Celsius to James Watt—Thermodynamics for Dummies® will turn you on to a subject that powers the world.
Softcover : 384 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ( August 02, 2011 )
Item #: 13-490230
ISBN: 9781118002919
Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 9.1 inches
Product Weight: 20.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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