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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > March  >
Research: Science and Education
Particle Model for Work, Heat, and the Energy of a Thermodynamic System
Howard DeVoe
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Cover
March 2007
Vol. 84 No. 3
p. 504
Abstract
A model of a thermodynamic system is described in which particles (representing atoms) interact with one another, the surroundings, and the earth's gravitational field according to the principles of classical mechanics. The system's energy E and internal energy U are defined. The importance is emphasized of the dependence of energy and work on a frame of reference. The changes ΔE and ΔU during a process are shown to depend on displacements of the particles at the system boundary and on the contact forces exerted on these particles by the surroundings. Formulas in terms of these displacements and forces are derived for the work and heat appearing in the first law of thermodynamics. The work and heat described by these formulas are shown to be quantitative transfers of energy across the system boundary.
Supplement
A derivation showing that work and heat are transferred quantitatively across the system boundary is available.
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Contents
  JCE2007p0504W.pdf
 
More Information
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Citation
DeVoe, Howard. J. Chem. Educ. 2007 84 504.
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Keywords
Gases; Graduate Education / Research; Misconceptions / Discrepant Events; Physical Chemistry; Textbooks / Reference Books; Theoretical Chemistry; Thermodynamics; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
2/1/2007
2/16/2007
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