Thermodynamics

From Glossary of Meteorology



thermodynamics

A collection of ideas and axioms, leading to differential equations specifying rates of change, that describes our experience with processes that involve fluxes of heat and changes in energy content.

Thermodynamics introduces a new concept—temperature—absent from classical mechanics and other branches of physics. Classical thermodynamics deals with equilibrium states, concentrating on initial and final configurations, not on the processes involved in evolution.

Dutton, J. A. 1995. Dynamics of Atmospheric Motion. Dover Press, . 35–36, 406–410.

Richards, P. I. 1959. Manual of Mathematical Physics. Pergamon Press, . p. 30.

Sommerfeld, A. 1964. Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Academic Press, v, 1.


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