Gibbs’ third paper

In his third and most famous paper, Gibbs created chemical potential to enable analysis of equilibrium in multi-species / multi-phase systems, introduced his eponymous phase rule, and developed the conceptual framework for composite properties of matter. By combining math and science, he demonstrated the usefulness of calculus in thermodynamics.

J. Willard Gibbs

Building on the work of Clausius, Gibbs wrote three papers that completed the foundation of classical thermodynamics. The focus of this chapter is his first two papers in which he introduced graphical techniques as a means to understand the properties of matter and phase equilibrium of a single compound.

The creation of thermodynamics

The North British group of scientists, including Thomson, Rankine, an adopted Joule, Tait, and Maxwell created in the written word the field of thermodynamics in which temperature plays a central role. Thomson experienced the first glimpse of dQ/T; however, a valid definition of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics remained absent. John Tyndall challenged the revisionist history of this group in which Joule was declared the first to discover heat–work equivalence and not the German Mayer. This led to the infamous Tait–Tyndall controversy.

Sadi Carnot

Carnot sought to better understand the performance of the Cornish engine for the benefit of France. His ground-breaking analysis involved new theories on thermal efficiency, maximum work, and closed-cycle operation. Carnot proposed an ideal heat engine that achieved the best possible efficiency, regardless (surprisingly) of the nature of the working substance. Unfortunately, embedded deep inside Carnot’s powerful analysis was a single major flawed assumption: the caloric theory of heat in which heat is treated as a conserved quantity.

James Watt

Watt improved the efficiency of the steam engine by moving the condenser out of Newcomen’s one-cylinder operation. Watt’s continuous improvements efforts blazed the trail towards the founding of thermodynamics.

It started with the piston

The piston lays at the heart of the heat engine and is the location where heat and work met for the first time. The discovery that we live at the bottom of a sea of air enabled creation of a vacuum as a means to move the piston inside a cylinder.

Heat: the missing piece to the puzzle

Historians explore the various theories of heat and the invention of the thermometer that eventually served to quantify the energy related to heat.

Galileo and the Law of Fall

Galileo broke away from Aristotle’s incorrect theories of motion towards his own based on experimental evidence. He employed experimentation to discover the parabolic trajectory of projectile motion and also the Law of Fall. His work helped establish the scientific method and launch the scientific revolution.

The Atom: science

The atom is comprised of a nucleus, which contains protons, neutrons, and the strong nuclear interaction holding them together, and orbiting electrons, which interact with the nucleus through the electromagnetic interaction. The quantized orbit of the electrons give the atom volume, while Pauli exclusion prevents atom overlapping with other atoms. Both phenomena result in a atom that can be modelled as a hard sphere.

The Big Bang: science

The historical timeline of the universe starts when hydrogen and helium initially formed and the four fundamental interactions—strong, electromagnetic, weak, gravitation—came into being. The hydrogen and helium spread throughout the universe and then came back together again in the stars and combined to create the periodic table of elements.