Everything you need to know about thermodynamics

Is a process during which molecules enter the bulk phase of the substance

Absorption

Type of thermodynamic process which occurs with no transfer of heat.

Adiabatic process

Is the accumulation of particles at a surface

Adsorption

Used to calculate the dependence of a reaction rate on temperature. Gives the reaction rate constant as a function of temperature and activation energy.

Arrhenius Equation

Is is a process carried out with the help of an autocatalyst.

Autocatalysis

Is a catalyst which is one of the products of the reaction, i.e., the product accelerates its own production.

Autocatalyst

Equal volumes of all gases, at the same temperature and pressure, have the same number of molecules

Avogadro's Law

Violates Raoult's law. Occurs when each of two or more components has the same boiling point, either higher or lower than each in isolation. The vapor phase mole fraction is identical to the liquid phase mole fraction.

Azeotropes

States that the quantity of light absorbed by a substance dissolved in a fully transmitting solvent is directly proportional to the concentration of the substance and the path length of the light through the solution.

Beer-Lambert Law

An increase in the velocity of a fluid that is accompanied by a decrease of pressure.

Bernoulli's principle

Called the "fifth state" of matter. Is a collection of integer-spin particles that collapse into a single quantum state at very low temperatures. Atoms in this type of substance are all at the lowest quantum level.

Bose-Einstein Condensate

At a fixed temperature, pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional.

Boyle's Law

Is a reaction in which the number of chain carriers increases.

Branching step

A device used to measure changes in thermal energy.

Calorimeter

The ideal efficiency of a heat engine or refrigerator working between two constant temperatures

Carnot Efficiency

When the pressure on a sample of a gas is held constant, the temperature and the volume will be directly related.

Charles's Law

Is a part of a molecule that absorbs light of a specific wavelength.

Chromophore

Used to estimate the vapor pressure at any temperature. Relates the slope of a reaction line on a phase diagram to fundamental thermodynamic properties. Pertains to the relationship between the pressure and temperature for conditions of equilibrium between two phases.

Clausius-Clapeyron Equation

Depend upon the concentration of solute molecules or ions, but not upon the identity of the solute. e.g. osmosis, boiling point elevation, freezing point depression, vapor pressure

Colligative properties

Is a process where a substance is released from the surface.

Desorption

This is the ideal cycle for this type of engine, which is also called the compression ignition engine. This cycle consists of two reversible adiabatic, one reversible isobar and one reversible isochoric process.

Diesel Cycle

Is a compound which in its liquid form behaves as an electrically conducting medium

Electrolyte

Process in which heat is absorbed.

Endothermic process

Process in which heat is released.

Exothermic process

Relates the diffusive flux to the concentration under the assumption of steady state. It postulates that the flux goes from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration

Fick's 1st law

Predicts how diffusion causes the concentration to change with time.

Fick's 2nd law

States that in closed system the internal energy can be changed by work or heat only, i.e., ∆U = q+w.

First law of thermodynamics

Emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation.

Fluorescence

Is the amount of the property passing through unit area per unit time.

Flux

Measure of the tendency of a gas to escape a certain phase, symbolized f.

Fugacity

At constant volume, the pressure of an ideal gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature.

Gay-Lussac's Law

Measures the amount of usable work available in a system. The change in this energy at constant pressure and temperature gives the maximal work available. In a closed system at constant pressure and temperature this energy decreases during a spontaneous process. Defined as G=H-TS, where H denotes enthalpy, T the thermodynamic temperature and S the entropy.

Gibbs Energy

The amount of time it takes for half of its atoms to decay

Half Life

Amount of heat needed to change the temperature of a material. At higher temperatures, this quantity is proportional to the molar mass of metal solids with a ratio of roughly 3 times the ideal gas constant.

Heat Capacity

Type of free energy that is equal to the the difference between pressure times volume plus Gibbs free energy. The change in this energy at constant volume and temperature gives the maximal work available. In a closed system at a constant volume and temperature this energy decreases during a spontaneous process. Defined as A=U-TS, where U is the internal energy, T is the thermodynamic temperature and S is the entropy.

Helmholtz Energy

At a constant temperature, the amount of a given gas that dissolves in a given type and volume of liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid.

Henry's law

Named for a Russian chemist. States that the total enthalpy change of a reaction is the same regardless of the steps taken in completing the reaction.

Hess's Law

Equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. Represented by PV=RT, the volume (V) occupied by n moles of any gas has a pressure (P) at temperature (T) in Kelvin.

Ideal Gas Law

Is a solution in which both the solvent and the solute obey Raoult's law for any composition.

Ideal solution

Is a reaction step where the first chain carriers are formed.

Initiation step

Is the total energy of the system. It contains the translational, rotational, vibrational, electronic, and nuclear energies and the energies due to intermolecular interactions. Its absolute value is unknown, its change is defined by the first law of thermodynamics. It is a state function and an extensive quantity.

Internal energy

Process with constant entropy

Isentropic process

Process with constant pressure

Isobaric process

Constant-volume process

Isochoric process

Process with constant temperature

Isothermal process

British scientist who put together the four fundamental equations of electromagnetism and has a namesake demon.

James Clerk Maxwell

Based on Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Theory that describes the behavior of ideal gases undergoing constant, random motion.

Kinetic Theory of Gases

In a hot body the particles move faster and thus have greater kinetic energy than particles in a cooler body.

Kinetic-molecular Theory

This quantity, symbolized U, is equal to the energy released by a crystal forming from separated ions. Also the energy needed to convert a solid ionic compound into its gaseous components.

Lattice Energy

Two are named after a German mathematician, one after Faraday, and one after Ampere. Is a set of partial differential equations including Gauss's Law, codified by a Scottish scientist.

Maxwell's equations

Is the amount of substance of the solute divided by the mass of the solvent.

Molarity

Used to find the reduction potential of a half-cell. Gives the redox potential of a galvanic cell.

Nernst Equation

Idealized thermodynamic cycle that describes the functioning of a typical spark ignition piston engine. It is the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines.

Otto Cycle

The emission of radiation in a similar manner to fluorescence but on a longer timescale, so that emission continues after excitation ceases.

Phosphorescence

Is a reaction in which the number of chain carriers is constant.

Propagatin step

Is conceptually similar to the Carnot cycle, except that isentropic compression occurs in the liquid phase and the liquid is then heated to saturation temperature to restart the cycle. It's closely approximated by steam turbines.

Rankine cycle

States that the partial vapor pressure of substance in an ideal mixture of liquids equals the vapor pressure of a pure component multiplied by its mole fraction in the mixture. That's a lot to take in.

Raoult's law

Type of natural convection, occurring in a plane horizontal layer of fluid heated from below, in which the fluid develops a regular pattern of convection cells known as Bénard cells. Is one of the most commonly studied convection phenomena because of its analytical and experimental accessibility.

Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

Is a reaction where the number of chain carriers is constant but the product is consumed.

Retardation step

Is a process in which the system is always infinitesimally close to equilibrium. Such a process can never be observed, it is only of theoretical interest.

Reversible process

Formulated the second law of thermodynamics and is credited with making thermodynamics a science.

Rudolf Clausius

Father of thermodynamics. Namesake "cycle."

Sadi Carnot

States that in isolated systems the entropy increases in spontaneous processes, i.e., ∆S > 0; in reversible process at equilibrium it is constant, i.e., ∆S = 0. or It is impossible to convert heat completely into work. or Heat cannot spontaneously flow from a material at lower temperature to a material at higher temperature.

Second law of thermodynamics

Study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation.

Spectroscopy

Is a property that is determined by the state of the system. The change in the state function is path independent and defined by the properties in the initial and the final state only.

State function

The flux of energy per area of a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its thermodynamic temperature.

Stefan-Boltzmann law

Reversible isothermal expansion of the gas. During this step the expanding gas causes the piston to do work on the surroundings. The gas expansion is propelled by absorption of quantity of heat from the high temperature reservoir.

Step 1 of the Carnot Cycle

Isentropic (Reversible adiabatic) expansion of the gas. For this step we assume the piston and cylinder are thermally insulated, so that no heat is gained or lost. The gas continues to expand, doing work on the surroundings. The gas expansion causes it to cool.

Step 2 of the Carnot Cycle

Reversible isothermal compression of the gas. Now the surroundings do work on the gas, causing quantity of heat to flow out of the gas to the low temperature reservoir.

Step 3 of the Carnot Cycle

Isentropic compression of the gas. Once again we assume the piston and cylinder are thermally insulated. During this step, the surroundings do work on the gas, compressing it and causing the temperature to rise. At this point the gas is in the same state as at the start of step 1.

Step 4 of the Carnot Cycle

Materials lowered below their critical temperature have this property, in which there is no resistance. They expel their magnetic fields in the Meissner effect. Used in MRI.

Superconductivity

Is a reaction in which the number of chain carriers decreases.

Termination step

States that every substance has finite positive entropy except the entropy of pure, perfect crystalline structure wich is 0 at 0 K.

Third law of thermodynamics

Famous for his invention of the first commercially used steam powered powered device, a steam pump which is often referred to as an "engine." Started thermodynamics with engines.

Thomas Savery

Unobservable entities whose energy content equals that of the reactants plus the activation energy. Represented by the peaks on a reaction coordinate. All bonds are activated.

Transition States

For water it is 273.16 K and ~ six hundred twelve pascals. At this point all three phases of a substancesolid, liquid, and gascan exist in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium.

Triple Point

This namesake scientist thought that the ideal gas law, PV=RT, failed to explain the behavior of real gases. So he created this equation that defines the physical state of a homogeneous gas, which is just a modified ideal gas law.

Van der Waals Equation

The pressure exerted by a gas when it is in equilibrium with its liquid form.

Vapor Pressure

Is the scalar product of the applied force and the displacement of the object (in the direction of force). Work=Force x Distance

Work

States that if system A is in thermal equilibrium with system B, and system B is in thermal equilibrium with system C, then system C is also in thermal equilibrium with system A (TA = TB = TC).

Zeroth law of thermodynamics