Thermodynamics
Undergraduate · Physics
Syllabus focus
Topics typically covered
Standard syllabus
Fundamentals and first law
- Temperature, heat, and work; state variables
- Equations of state for ideal and real gases
- First law for closed and open systems
- Enthalpy and specific heats
- Reversible and irreversible processes
Second law and entropy
- Heat engines, refrigerators, and Carnot cycle
- Entropy as a state function
- Clausius inequality and entropy production
- Thermodynamic potentials: Gibbs and Helmholtz
- Maxwell relations and Jacobian methods (intro)
Phase transitions and mixtures
- Phase diagrams and Clausius–Clapeyron equation
- Chemical potential and Gibbs phase rule
- Ideal and non-ideal solutions
- Osmotic pressure and colligative properties
- Critical phenomena overview
STEM / applied
Power and chemical engineering
- Rankine and Brayton cycle analysis
- Efficiency limits and exergy concepts
- Combustion enthalpies and reaction heat
- Heat exchanger design parameters
- Refrigeration and HVAC system modeling
Materials and environmental
- Latent heat in metallurgical phase changes
- Climate thermodynamics and heat engines metaphor
- Battery thermodynamics and safety margins
- Cryogenics and liquefaction cycles
- Thermodynamic databases for alloys
Laboratory and data analysis
- Calorimetry and heat capacity measurement
- P–V diagram tracing for real cycles
- Error analysis on efficiency calculations
- Software for steam tables and property lookup
- Connecting macroscopic laws to kinetic theory preview
Study units
Each unit includes a study guide, worksheets, review, practice test, and answer key. One unit is free; subscribe for the full class.
- Fundamentals and first law
Temperature, heat, and work; state variables
Coming soon - Second law and entropy
Heat engines, refrigerators, and Carnot cycle
Coming soon - Phase transitions and mixtures
Phase diagrams and Clausius–Clapeyron equation
Coming soon
Notes
Topics reflect common upper-division physics syllabi at US colleges and universities. Prerequisites, lab pairing, and mathematical depth vary by department.