What is Thermodynamics?
ABSTRACT: This article describes Thermodynamics; the most important subject in engineering
that is based on four laws. To make Thermodynamics more understandable and easy to percept, its
different definitions presented below will be demonstrated by artworks. This is a new approach
developed by the author that has been applied to subjects in natural sciences, technological sciences,
humanities and social sciences as well as life sciences. In future articles, the four laws will be
demonstrated by art.
INTRODUCTION
Thermodynamics is an engineering tool used to describe processes that involve changes in different
parameters such as temperature, pressure etc., transformation of energy and the relationships between
heat and work. It generalizes empirical evidence accumulated in our daily lives into four laws that
govern every thing in the universe. The name thermodynamics stems from the Greek words thermos
(heat) and dynamos (power), which is most descriptive of the early efforts to convert heat into power.
Today the same name is broadly interpreted to include all aspects of energy and energy transformations,
including power generation, refrigeration, fluid flow, combustion, and relationships among the
properties of matter.
The history of thermodynamics [1] is a fundamental strand in the history of physics, the history
of chemistry, and the history of science. Owing to the relevance of thermodynamics in science and
technology, its history is finely related with the developments of classical mechanics, quantum
mechanics, magnetism and chemical kinetics, as well as fields such as meteorology, information theory,
biology, and to technological developments such as the steam engine, internal combustion engine,
cryogenics and electricity generation. Essential stages that inherently functioned to stimulate modern
thermodynamics, began with the arguments of the 5th century Greek philosopher Parmenides. He
postulated that a void in nature, essentially what is now known as a vacuum, could not occur. This
statement was disproved conclusively, approximately two thousand years later, when Otto von Guericke
built a vacuum pump. Carnot relates additional important stage to the study of efficiency of heat
engines. In his 1824 thesis Carnot stated that the efficiency of a heat engine depended only on the
temperature difference between it heat source and heat sink and not on the working substance. A decade
was passed when Clapeyron developed the relationship between vapor pressure and an unknown
function of empirical temperature scale. Clausius later identified this unknown function as the absolute
temperature scale. The equation relating the vapor pressure to the absolute temperature is known as the
Clausius-Calpeyron equation. It was in 1850 when Clausius published his thesis on the Second Law of
thermodynamics that is known as "the Clausius statement." It was this statement that marked the
beginning of thermodynamics as a science as Gibbs stated it in the late nineteenth century. A year after
publication of this thesis, Thomson formulated explicitly the First and Second Laws of thermodynamics.
Thomson had already defined an absolute temperature scale in 1848 and was aware of the 1845
publication by Joule in which Joule had demonstrated the equivalence of heat and work. It was 1865
when Clausius introduced the term "entropy" and stated, "The energy of universe is constant. The
entropy of universe tends towards a maximum". Introduction of the term entropy resulted in a new
formulation of the Second Law by Clausius. The thesis by Gibbs published in 1875 entitled "On the
equilibrium of heterogeneous substances" and his other publications have a special place in
thermodynamics of mixtures and phase equilibria. Gibbs extended the science of thermodynamics in a
general form to heterogeneous systems with and without chemical reactions. He is also credited for
derivation and formulation of completely general equilibrium conditions for various cases. Other early
contributors to this branch of thermodynamics are the following: Helmholtz, who in 1882 independent
of Gibbs, introduced the concept of free energy and derived the relationship now known as the GibbsHelmholtz equation; Duhem, who in 1886, derived the Gibbs-Duhem equation; Planck, who in 1887,
divided the changes of state into two classes of thermodynamic processes, namely reversible and
irreversible processes; Nernst, who in 1906, published heat theorem, and Carathe'odory, who in
1909, developed a new axiomatic basis of thermodynamics.
DEFINTIONS OF THRMOYNAMICS AND THEIR DEMONTRATION BY ART
A large list of definitions appear in ref. [2] of which the following definitions were selected:
1) The science that describes what is possible and what is impossible during energy conversion
processes.
2) The study of the combined effects of heat and motion.
3) The study of the relationships between heat, work, and energy.
4) The science of the conversions between heat and other forms of energy.
As seen, the basic quantities that appear in the definitions are: energy, heat and work. Energy is
often defined as the ability to do work [3] and is demonstrated in Fig.1. On the left-hand-side is the
artwork of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) a post-impressionist painter entitled “Still Life with Basket of
Apples” [4] demonstrating food. It is a fact of life that food provides the needed energy to the body.
On the right-hand-side is a sculpture by an unknown artist demonstrating energy - the ability of the body
to do work, i.e. to run.
Fig.1
Fig.2
When a force acts on an object to cause a displacement of it, work is done on the object. This is
demonstrated in Fig.2 by the artwork of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), a Dutch Post-Impressionist
artist. It is entitled “Two Peasants Digging” [5]. And finally heat, symbolized by Q, is the energy
transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature T1 – T2. It is
demonstrated in Fig.3 entitled “The Gradation of Fire” [6] painted by Rene Magritte (1898-1967),
Belgian surrealist artist.
Fig.3
In the following we demonstrate by different artworks the subject of thermodynamics according
to the aforementioned definitions. Fig.4 [7] by the American photographer Walter Wick (b.1953)
demonstrates the 1st definition of thermodynamic. At room temperature it is possible that condensation
of the vapor occurs spontaneously. However it is impossible that evaporation of the drops will occur
spontaneously. Energy must be provided for the evaporation.
Fig.4
Fig.5 [8] is another demonstration of the 1st definition of thermodynamics painted by Jim Warren, an
American painter born in 1949 who specialized in fantasy art. The flow downwards is possible
spontaneously due to the potential energy of the liquid; however the flow upwards is impossible without
providing energy.
Fig.5
Figs.6 and 7 demonstrate the second definition of thermodynamics: the study of the combined
effects of heat and motion. On the left-hand-side is an artwork by Rene Magritte (1898-1967), Belgian
surrealist painter, entitled “The Discovery of Fire” [9] which represents heat. On the right-hand-side is
a bronze sculpture entitled “Van Gogh On The Road” [10] made by the British cartoonist John Coll
(1936-2007) that represents motion.
Fig.6
In Fig.7 heat is demonstrated by the sun [11] where motion is presented by the artwork “Sky and Water
I” [12] of M.C.Escher (1898-1972), one of the world's most famous graphic artists.
Fig.7
The third definition of thermodynamics, “the study of the relationships between heat and work” is
demonstrated in Figs.8 to 11. However, it should be emphasized that how exactly the transformation of
heat to work occurs practically is the “business” of technology. The left-hand-side of Fig.8 entitled
“Sunrise” [13] that demonstrates heat was painted by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), an American Pop
artist. The right-hand-hand artwork by an unknown artist represents work.
Fig.8
Fig.9, left-hand-side, entitled “The Fire” [14] that creates heat was painted by Giuseppe
Arcimboldo (1527-1593) an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made
entirely of such objects as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books. The work function on the righthand-side is demonstrated by the painting entitled “Lifting Weights with One Arm” [15] of Eugene
Jansson (1862-1915), a Swedish painter. Additional demonstration of heat is shown in Fig.10 on the
left-hand-side. It is entitled “Eruption”[16] and was painted by the polish surrealist artist Jacek Yerka
born in 1952. Work is demonstrated on right-hand-side [17] by the famous image of Sisyphus who was
punished to push stone upwards infinite times. From here comes the expression sissify work meaning
doing work which yields nothing. And finally in Fig.11, the combination between heat and work in a
single artwork, is demonstrated by the artwork of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) a Dutch expressionist.
It is entitled “Sower” [18].
Fig.9
Fig.10
Fig.11
CONCLUSIONS
It is well known that thermodynamics is not an easy subject in chemical engineering studies.
However, from his experience of teaching thermodynamics, the author believes that presentation by
artworks of what is thermodynamics makes this subject clearer, more understandable and easier to
percept. The author recommends that this article may be used to present “what is thermodynamics” in
the first lecture of thermodynamics.
REFERENCES
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_thermodynamics
[2]http://www.google.co.il/search?hl=iw&defl=en&q=define:Thermodynamics&sa=X&oi=glossary_def
inition&ct=title
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy
[4] http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-cM5BH9g.dqc8reyqv.K710U-?cq=1&p=298
[5] http://wahooart.com/A55A04/w.nsf/Opra/BRUE-5ZKGTY?OpenDocument&ChangeLangue=ES
[6] “Rene Magritte” by A.M Hammacher, Thames and Hudson, 1986
[7] “A Drop of Water” by Walter Wick, Scholastic Press/New York, 1997
[8] http://images.google.co.il/images?gbv=2&ndsp=18&hl=iw&q=Jim+Warren&start=36&sa=N
[9] “Rene Magritte 1898-1967” by Marcel Paquet, Benedict Taschen Verlag GmbH, 1994
[10] http://www.thekennygallery.ie/exhibitions/1998/colljohn/
[11] http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/primer/primer_graphics/Sun.png
[12] “The World of M.C.Escher” edited by J.L.Locher, Harry N.Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York,
1971
[13] http://images.easyart.com/i/prints/rw/en_easyart/lg/3/3/Sunrise-Roy-Lichtenstein-33065.jpg
[14]
http://images.google.co.il/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spamula.net/blog/i16/arcimboldo10.jpg&imgrefur
l=http://www.spamula.net/blog/2004/03/arcimboldos_elements.html&h=1848&w=1390&sz=512&hl=i
w&start=6&tbnid=HzJFDd0YEqAxM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=113&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darcimboldo%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3
Diw%26sa%3DG
[15]
http://images.google.co.il/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Jans
[16] “Mind Fields” by Jacek Yerka, Morpheus International, 1994
[17] http://images.google.co.il/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blogimages/art/sisyphus
[18] http://ayeshahauer.com/photos/VanGoghSower.jpg