Thermodynamics

Enrico Fermi: Father of the Atomic AgeEnrico Fermi (1901–1954) received the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his demonstrations of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons." Just a year before winning the Nobel Prize, Fermi published Thermodynamics, based on a course of lectures at Columbia University, an enduring work which Dover first reprinted in 1956 and which has been in print continuously since then, one of the foundations of Dover's physics program. Both a theorist and an experimentalist, Fermi packed an immense amount of science into his relatively short life, which ended prematurely as a consequence of the radiation he received working on the development of the atomic bomb. His work, of course, was not just in the realm of nuclear physics: Fermi will always be the most remembered for the events of December 2, 1942, when he and other scientists at the University of Chicago's Stagg Field produced the world's "first self-sustaining chain reaction . . . instituting the controlled release of atomic energy." In the Author's Own Words:"There are two possible outcomes: If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery." — Enrico Fermi Critical Acclaim for Enrico Fermi:"He was simply unable to let things be foggy. Since they always are, this kept him pretty active." — J. Robert Oppenheimer

• PREFACEINTRODUCTIONCHAPTERI. THERMODYNAMIC SYSTEMS1. The state of a system and its transformations2. Ideal or perfect gasesII. THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS3. The statement of the first law of thermodynamics4. "The application of the first law to systems whose states can be represented on a (V, p) diagram"5. The application of the first law to gases6. Adiabatic transformations of a gasIII. THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS7. The statement of the second law of thermodynamics8. The Carnot cycle9. The absolute thermodynamic temperature10. Thermal enginesIV. THE ENTROPY11. Some properties of cycles12. The entropy13. Some further properties of the entropy14. "The entropy of a system whose states can be represented on a (V, p) diagram"15. The Clapeyron equation16. The Van der Waals equationV. THERMODYNAMIC POTENTIALS17. The free energy18. The thermodynamic potential at constant pressure19. The phase rule20. Thermodynamics of the reversible electric cellsVI. GASEOUS REACTIONS21. Chemical equilibria in gases22. The Van't Hoff reaction box23. Another proof of the equation of gaseous equilibria24. Discussion of gaseous equilibria; the principle of Le ChatelierVII. THE THERMODYNAMICS OF DILUTE SOLUTIONS25. Dilute solutions26. Osmotic pressure27. Chemical equilibria in solutions28. The distribution of a solute between two phases29. "The vapor pressure, the boiling point, and the freezing point of a solution"VIII. THE ENTROPY CONSTANT30. The Nernst theorem31. Nernst's theorem applied to solids32. The entropy constant of gases33. Thermal ionization of a gas; the thermionic effectINDEX