Thermodynamics Kept Simple - A Molecular Approach: What is the Driving Force in the World of Molecules?

Thermodynamics Kept Simple – A Molecular Approach: What is the Driving Force in the World of Molecules? offers a truly unique way of teaching and thinking about basic thermodynamics that helps students overcome common conceptual problems. For example, the book explains the concept of entropy from the perspective of probabilities of various molecular processes. Temperature is then addressed and related to probabilities for heat transfer between different systems. This approach gives the second law of thermodynamics a natural and intuitive background. The book delivers a concise and brilliantly conceived introduction to thermodynamics by focusing at the molecular level in a manner that is easy to follow and illustrated by engaging, concrete examples. By providing a guided tour of the world of molecules, the book gives insights into essential principles of thermodynamics with minimal use of mathematics. It takes as a unifying theme an application of simple but appropriate reasoning that leads to the correct mathematical relationships. Many well-chosen examples are employed to clearly illustrate the core laws and to supply valuable insight into the molecular events underlying the thermodynamic macroscopic description, such as how spreading of energy and spreading of particles can sometimes oppose each other and at other times work together. Thereby, insight into the world experienced in everyday life also is gained. The book covers key concepts such as entropy, energy transfer, heat exchange, work, enthalpy, free energy, irreversible and reversible processes, chemical equilibrium, and phase transitions. It provides an intuitive understanding of the distinction between microscopic and macroscopic states and shows how statistics play out in the molecular world. Based on the author’s popular, classroom-proven Swedish textbook, this book presents the fundamentals of thermodynamics in a straightforward manner accessible to students at the first-year university level and beyond.