MIT Lecture 1

Question 1

Thermodynamics is the science of _

Answer 1

The flow of heat

Question 2

Thermodynamics was developed primarily in _

Answer 2

The 1800s during the industrial revolution

Question 3

What prescient calculation did Arrhenius make in the 1800s?

Answer 3

The impact of CO2 on the environment. He predicted that we would have problems in about 2000 years

Question 4

What does the zeroth law define?

Answer 4

Temperature (T)

Question 5

What does the first law define?

Answer 5

Energy (U) and its conservation

Question 6

What does the second law define?

Answer 6

Entropy (S)

Question 7

What does the third law provide?

Answer 7

A numerical value to entropy

Question 8

Under what condition could you attain perfect efficiency?

Answer 8

0K

Question 9

What is the closes that anyone has ever come to 0K?

Answer 9

150 nanokelvin

Question 10

What is the system?

Answer 10

The delineated part of the universe that we are looking at

Question 11

What are the surroundings?

Answer 11

Everything that exists outside of the system

Question 12

What is the boundary?

Answer 12

The surface that exists between the system and its surroundings

Question 13

What is an open system?

Answer 13

One in which energy and mass can flow between through the boundary

Question 14

What is an isolated system?

Answer 14

One in which neither energy nor mass can flow through the boundary

Question 15

What is a closed system?

Answer 15

One in which energy but not mass can flow through the boundary

Question 16

What information do you need to describe an equilibrium state?

Answer 16

Number of moles + 2 state variables

Question 17

What is a homogeneous system?

Answer 17

One in which all of the molecules are in the same phase

Question 18

What is a heterogeneous system?

Answer 18

One in which the molecules are present in different phases within the system

Question 19

How many components are in the system of an ice cube in a glass of water?

Answer 19

Just one. There are only water molecules present

Question 20

how many components are in the system of a late coffee?

Answer 20

Many since there are many different kinds of molecules in the milk, water, impurities etc

Question 21

Thermodynamics describes systems that are _

Answer 21

Equilibrium states

Question 22

Thermodynamics describes the transition between _

Answer 22

One equilibrium state to another

Question 23

What are extensive properties? Give examples

Answer 23

Properties that scale with the scaling of the system - volume, mass

Question 24

What are intensive properties? Give examples

Answer 24

Properties that do not scale with the scaling of the system - temperature

Question 25

How would you convert an extensive variable in to an intensive one?

Answer 25

Divide it by the number of moles

Question 26

Why is thermodynamics so powerful?

Answer 26

With only a small amount of data you can describe a system in detail, which gives a large amount of predictive power

Question 27

The number of paths you can take between two systems is _

Answer 27

Infinite

Question 28

What can define the direction of time?

Answer 28

The direction of an irreversible path

Question 29

Define an adiabatic path

Answer 29

One in which no heat is transferred to the surroundings