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3: The First Law of Thermodynamics

  • Page ID
    41300
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    • 3.1: Work and Heat
      Joule was able to show that work and heat can have the same effect on matter – a change in temperature! It would then be reasonable to conclude that heating, as well as doing work on a system will increase its energy content, and thus it’s ability to perform work in the surroundings. This leads to an important construct of the First Law of Thermodynamics.
    • 3.2: The First Law of Thermodynamics
      The first law of thermodynamics states that the energy of the universe is constant. The change in the internal energy of a system is the sum of the heat transferred and the work done. The heat flow is equal to the change in the internal energy of the system plus the PV work done. When the volume of a system is constant, changes in its internal energy can be calculated by substituting the ideal gas law into the equation for ΔU.
    • 3.3: Heat Capacities
    • 3.4: Gas Expansion
    • 3.5: Calorimetry
      As chemists, we are concerned with chemical changes and reactions. The thermodynamics of chemical reactions can be very important in terms of controlling the production of desired products and preventing safety hazards such as explosions. As such, measuring and understanding the thermochemistry of chemical reactions is not only useful, but essential!
    • 3.6: Thermochemistry
      Standard States, Hess's Law and Kirchoff's Law
    • 3.7: Bond Energies and Enthalpies
      In the absence of standard formation enthalpies, reaction enthalpies can be estimated using average bond enthalpies. This method is not perfect, but it can be used to get ball-park estimates when more detailed data is not available.
    • 3.E: Exercises
      This are exercises that to accompany the TextMap organized around Raymond Chang's Physical Chemistry for the Biosciences textbook.


    3: The First Law of Thermodynamics is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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