Verified Document

History Of The First And Second Laws Term Paper

History Of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics Modern life would not be the same without two important laws of thermodynamics. Without these two laws we would not have the gasoline engine or electricity in our homes. These two laws made the inventions that we take for granted possible. These two laws are the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics is that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It forms the basis of the idea that in order to produce a prescribed amount of work, a certain amount of energy must be put into a system. The second law of thermodynamics is about the active nature of systems. It states that systems will work to achieve a state of balance and equilibrium.

The laws of thermodynamics came about through observation. Early scientists simply made observations about the natural world around them and then tried to explain why something happened. Several concepts were important as preliminary observations that led to the laws...

One of the first observations that led to these laws was made by Fahrenheit in 1724 when he noticed that liquids boil at constant temperatures (Crowe, 1998) Benjamin Thompson presented research to the Royal Society in London in 1798 stating that heat is not a substance in itself, but rather that it is produced by the motion of particle (Crowe, 1998).
These laws were the earl building blocks for the laws of thermodynamics.

These discoveries were the beginnings of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, but it was the work of Sadi Carnot and his work with steam engines that gave us its modern form (Crowe, 1998). Carnot's work (1824) centered on the second law of thermodynamics. He showed that the work produced by a steam engine is proportional to the heat transferred from the boiler to the condenser. He proved that heat could only be gained by heat transfer from a warmer to a colder body. Emile Clapeyron (1834) expanded on Carnot's work and devised that…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Crowe, M.J.,(1998) Heat and Thermodynamics from Newton to the Kinetic Theory. Notre Dame, Indiana: Poverty Publishing Co. Chapters 5,6,7.

Nye, Mary Jo, (1997) Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics, 1800-1940. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Law Enforcement Patrolling Kansas City Gun Experiment
Words: 1145 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Law Enforcement Patrolling Kansas City Gun Experiment and the Kerner Commission Report The Kansas City Gun Experiment of 1992 and 1993 illustrates a police strategy that was responsive to the fact that a particular area was responsible for a very high rate of firearm related homicides (University of Maryland; University of Texas, 2012). The intensification of police patrols represents a hybridization of the traditional "law enforcement" and "crime fighting" police functions. The

History Analogy There Were Two
Words: 1833 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

(Boskin, 1976) Thus the civil war and the later inclusion of the courts and rulings though have given succor to the colored people, the conditions in Virginia of the earlier century was found all over the United States even after a hundred years and hence Martin Luther King had to in the 1960s come out again to fight for equality. Is the struggle over? Conclusion On perusing the materials and analysis one

History on the State of Virginia
Words: 1558 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

17th century, a book inspired by Sir Walter Raleigh and written by Richard Hakluyt, entitled "Western Planting," built up great interest in American colonization. Focus of commercial explorations was possible trade with the East India Company for the West. The King of England formed and granted a royal charter to the London Company and the Plymouth Company (Interesting.com) to found a colony. In December 1606, the London Company, led

History of Project Management in
Words: 9431 Length: 24 Document Type: Book Report

A more definitive explanation is; "... A proposed explanation for a phenomenon." (Scientific Reference) a hypothesis should be able to be tested and functions as a directive for further research. In my research study for example, the hypothesis that was explored was that certain circumstances in different historical periods affect the development of the areas of expertise and their application to project activities. These circumstances include social and cultural movements;

History and Evolution of Nonprofit Organizations
Words: 3368 Length: 12 Document Type: Term Paper

Evolution of Non-Profits An organization can essentially be defined as non-profit if it is not under the obligation to distribute any financial surplus to the individuals that are responsible for controlling the use of the assets for the organization. The most typical categories for non-profit organizations are arts, advocacy, civic, education, cultural, health, and human or social service, and these organizations range in size and scope. Non-profits are described by the

History of Economic of the 4 Periods in Ancient Civilization
Words: 5166 Length: 16 Document Type: Literature Review

Economics in Ancient Civilization It is said that "Rome was not built in a day." Indeed, the Roman Empire was the last of a series of civilizations to emerge in the Mediterranean by the First Millennium, B.C. Precursors to the culture most identified as the seat of Western political economy, the Ancient Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Syrians, Carthaginians and Phoenicians all had contact with the Romans, and eventually were incorporated through territorial

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now