Thermodynamics

Count Rumford

Demos to Prepare:

 Observe dissolved air in cold and hot water
   (tiny bubbles).
Fish breathe dissolved air.
The Bends (death to divers)--
  Pressure dissolves N₂ in the blood.  Releasing       
     the pressure allows N₂ bubbles to form in the       
     blood.

The Termite Reaction!

Work of falling mass is converted into heat.

The Thermodynamics class was on the second floor. Only Boom used the stairs. All of the other students, and the Professor, waited in line to use the elevators to go up one floor! Well, one day Boom discovered that the elevator doesn't stop at the second floor. So what about his classmates? They take the elevator to the THIRD floor and walk DOWN a flight of stairs! Sheeesh, that's minimum energy (for them). Nowadays the elevator no longer stops at the third floor, and the students are using the stairs to get to the second floor. Yup, minimum energy!

Compliments of Glencoe Physics

Pool Toss and Sling Shot change Potential Energy into Kinetic Energy and acquire maximum disorder, and minimum energy. Videos:

The Door of Maxwell's Demon, wherein the demon tries to separate molecules to reverse entropy. Video:

Brownian Motion is energy transfer from the heat of moving molecules into the vibrations of smoke or pollen particles, Video:

Unbalanced Wheel Animation

Why won’t this unbalanced wheel machine work?

Blowing up a Whale results in a lot of minimum energy and maximum randomness, Video:

Boiling Nitrogen and the Determination of Absolute Zero, Video:

Freezing by Boiling!

Coke and Mentos achieve maximum disorder by providing condensation nuclei for CO₂ bubbles to form on quickly. Video:

Raising the earth’s average temperature by 0.3^oC will cause the
melting of the glaciers. The oceans will rise 100 meters!
Bad news for most major cities on earth.
And to the highlands to which all of those people will be fleeing.

Just a 4C^o increase in average temperature!

Here Endeth Thermodynamics

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