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2: Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
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2.1: What is Thermodynamics?
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Thermodynamics is the branch of science that deals with heat and work, and their relation to energy. As the definition suggests, thermodynamics is concerned with two types of energy: heat and work.
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2.2: The Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
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The mathematical definition that guarantees that thermal equilibrium is an equivalence relation is called the zeroth law of thermodynamics. The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if two thermodynamic systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third one, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.
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2.3: Calculation of Heat
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Heat (Q) is a property that gets transferred between substances. Similarly to work, the amount of heat that flows through a boundary can be measured, but its mathematical treatment is complicated because heat is a path function.
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2.4: Calculation of Work
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In the following sections, we will analyze how work is calculated in some prototypical situations commonly encountered in the thermodynamical treatment of systems.