Thermal Processes

As with most situations, to easily conceptualize the processes that take place and the relationships between variables, parameters are idealized to simplify the reactions through adjusting one or more variables whilst keeping others constant. With respect to Thermodynamics, gases are most often used to represent the relationships between Pressure (P in Pascals), Temperature (T in Kelvin), and Volume (V in cubic meters) from which Work (W in Joules) performed both on and by the system, as well as Heat (Q in Joules) added to the system, can be determined by the changes in the variables both empirically and graphically. As such, four common processes exist:

Hiles, Bryce. Gas Process Graphic. Designed on Microsoft Word. 18 Apr. 2015.

• Isochoric refers to a process in which the volume of the system is held constant while pressure and temperature are allowed to fluctuate, hence the change in thermal energy is equivalent to the heat added to the system.

• Isobaric refers to a process in which the pressure of the system is held constant and volume and temperature are allowed to fluctuate, hence the change in thermal energy is equivalent to the difference in heat and work.

• Isothermal refers to a process in which the temperature of the system is held constant and pressure and volume are allowed to fluctuate, hence the change in thermal energy is zero because temperature does not change.

• Adiabatic refers to a process in which no heat is added to the system and all other variables are allowed to move freely, hence the change in thermal energy is equivalent to the work performed on or by the system.

Introduction

Key Distinctions

The Governing Laws

Thermal Processes

Methods of Heat Transfer and Material Properties

The Physics of Cheesecake

Bibliography