What is thermodynamics?

By Jim Lucas
 Contributions from 
Ashley Hamer
 published February 03, 2022

Learn all about thermodynamics, the science that explores the relationship
between heat and energy in other forms.

Engineer inspecting steam turbine blades. (Image credit: Monty Rakusen via Getty Images)

Jump to:
 Heat
 Temperature
 Specific heat
 Thermal conductivity
 Newton's Law of Cooling
 Heat transfer
 The Carnot cycle
 Entropy
 The four laws of thermodynamics
 Additional resources
 Bibliography
Thermodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with the relationships between heat and
other forms of energy. In particular, it describes how thermal energy is converted to and from
other forms of energy and how thermal energy affects matter. 
Thermal energy is the energy a substance or system has due to its temperature — in other words,
the energy of moving or vibrating molecules — according to the University of Kentucky(opens
in new tab). Thermodynamics involves measuring this energy, which can be "exceedingly
complicated," David McKee, a professor of physics at Missouri Southern State University told
Live Science. "The systems that we study in thermodynamics … consist of very large numbers
of atoms or molecules interacting in complicated ways. But, if these systems meet the right
criteria, which we call equilibrium, they can be described with a very small number of
measurements or numbers. Often this is idealized as the mass of the system, the pressure of the
system, and the volume of the system, or some other equivalent set of numbers." 
HEAT
Thermodynamics, then, is concerned with several properties of matter; foremost among these is
heat. Heat is energy transferred between substances or systems due to a temperature difference
between them, according to Georgia State University(opens in new tab). As a form of energy,
heat is conserved — it cannot be created or destroyed. It can, however, be transferred from one
place to another. Heat can also be converted to and from other forms of energy. For example, a
steam turbine can convert heat to kinetic energy to run a generator that converts kinetic energy to
electrical energy. A light bulb can convert this electrical energy to electromagnetic radiation
(light), which, when absorbed by a surface, is converted back into heat. Throughout this process,
a portion of the energy is lost to entropy.
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TEMPERATURE

Comparing the freezing and melting points of water (in Celsius). (Image credit: Why Design via Shutterstock)
The amount of heat transferred by a substance depends on the speed and number of atoms or
molecules of that substance in motion, according to Georgia State University(opens in new tab).
The faster the atoms or molecules move, the higher the temperature, and the more atoms or
molecules that are in motion, the greater the quantity of heat they transfer.

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Temperature is "a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter,
expressed in terms of units or degrees designated on a standard scale," according to
the American Heritage Dictionary(opens in new tab). The most commonly used temperature
scale is Celsius, which is based on the freezing and boiling points of water, assigning respective
values of 0 C and 100 C. The Fahrenheit scale is also based on the freezing and boiling points of
water, which have assigned values of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 212 F, respectively.
Scientists worldwide, however, use the Kelvin (K with no degree sign) scale, named after
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, because it's based on total thermal energy rather than the
freezing and boiling points of water, according to the National Library of Scotland(opens in new
tab). This scale uses the same increments as the Celsius scale; for example, a temperature change
of 1 C is equal to 1 K. However, the Kelvin scale starts at absolute zero, the temperature at which
there is a total absence of heat energy, and all molecular motion stops. A temperature of 0 K is
equal to minus 459.67 F or minus 273.15 C.
SPECIFIC HEAT
The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a certain mass of a substance by a
certain amount is called specific heat, or specific heat capacity, according to Wolfram
Research(opens in new tab). The conventional unit for this is calories per gram per Kelvin. The
calorie is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of
water at 4 C by 1 degree. 
The specific heat of a metal depends almost entirely on the number of atoms in the sample and
the way they bond, not the sample's mass. For instance, a kilogram of aluminum can absorb
about seven times more heat than a kilogram of lead. A given mass of water, however, can
absorb nearly five times as much heat as an equal mass of aluminum, thanks to the strong forces
binding the water molecules, according to Southeastern Louisiana University(opens in new tab).
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

A central processing unit (CPU) is an essential part of a computer's hardware components. (Image credit: Narumon
Bowonkitwanchai via Getty Images)
Thermal conductivity (k) is "the rate at which heat passes through a certain cross-section of a
specified material," according to Debdatta Ratna's "Thermosets"(opens in new tab) (Woodhead
Publishing limited, 2012). The unit for k is watts (W) per meter (m) per Kelvin (K), according
to Swarthmore College(opens in new tab). Values of k for metals such as copper and silver are
relatively high at 380 and 420 W/m·K, respectively. This property makes these materials useful
for automobile radiators and cooling fins for computer chips because they can carry away heat
quickly and exchange it with the environment. The highest value of k for any natural substance is
diamond at 2,200 W/m·K, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Materials(opens in
new tab).
Other materials are useful because they are extremely poor conductors of heat; this property is
referred to as thermal resistance, or R-value, which describes the rate at which heat is transmitted
through the material. These materials, such as fiberglass, goose down, and Styrofoam, are used
for insulation in exterior building walls, winter coats, and thermal coffee mugs. R-value is given
in units of square feet times degrees Fahrenheit times hours per British thermal unit(opens in
new tab) (ft2·°F·h/Btu), according to OpenStax(opens in new tab), an open-source textbook.
NEWTON'S LAW OF COOLING
In 1701, Sir Isaac Newton first stated his Law of Cooling in a short article titled "Scala graduum
Caloris"(opens in new tab) ("A Scale of the Degrees of Heat") in the Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society. Newton's statement of the law translates from the original Latin as, "the
excess of the degrees of the heat ... were in geometrical progression when the times are in an
arithmetical progression." Worcester Polytechnic Institute(opens in new tab) gives a more
modern version of this scientific law as "the rate of change of temperature is proportional to the
difference between the temperature of the object and that of the surrounding environment." 
This results in an exponential decay(opens in new tab) in the temperature difference. For
example, if a warm object is placed in a cold bath, within a certain length of time, the difference
between the two temperatures will decrease by half. Then in that same length of time, the
remaining difference will again decrease by half. This repeated halving of the temperature
difference will continue at equal time intervals until it becomes too small to measure. At that
point, the system is in thermal equilibrium.
HEAT TRANSFER

Diagram showing how heat transfer works. (Image credit: blueringmedia via Getty Images)
Heat can be transferred from one body to another or between a body and the environment by
three different means: conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction is the transfer of
energy through a solid material. Conduction between bodies occurs when they are in direct
contact, and molecules transfer their energy across the interface. 
Convection is the transfer of heat to or from a fluid medium. Molecules in a gas or liquid in
contact with a solid body transmit or absorb heat to or from that body and then move away,
allowing other molecules of the fluid to move into place and repeat the process.

Radiation is the emission of energy via electromagnetic (EM) radiation,

particularly infrared photons that carry heat energy. All matter emits and absorbs some EM
radiation, the net amount of which determines whether this causes a loss or gain in heat,
according to Northwestern University(opens in new tab).
THE CARNOT CYCLE