Theory of Heat

by James Clerk Maxwell

Overview

Best known for his theory of electromagnetism, James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79) was Cambridge University's first Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics. Albert Einstein described his work as 'the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton'. He carried out brilliant work in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, laying the foundation for the kinetic theory of gases. This book, published originally in 1871, summarises his work in this field. It includes the 'Maxwell relations' that still feature in every standard text on thermodynamics. It also outlines his famous thought experiment, later named Maxwell's 'demon'. This idea, which appeared to contradict the second law of thermodynamics, would inspire scientific debate well into the twentieth century. More recently, it has sparked developments in the new sciences of nanotechnology and quantum computing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108032018
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/02/2011
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

James Clerk Maxwell: In His Own Words — And Others
Dover reprinted Maxwell's Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism in 1954, surely one of the first classics of scientific literature over a thousand pages in length to be given new life and accessibility to students and researchers as a result of the paperback revolution of the 1950s. Matter and Motion followed in 1991 and Theory of Heat in 2001.

Some towering figures in science have to speak for themselves. Such is James Clerk Maxwell (1813–1879), the Scottish physicist and mathematician who formulated the basic equations of classical electromagnetic theory.

In the Author's Own Words:
"We may find illustrations of the highest doctrines of science in games and gymnastics, in traveling by land and by water, in storms of the air and of the sea, and wherever there is matter in motion."

"The 2nd law of thermodynamics has the same degree of truth as the statement that if you throw a tumblerful of water into the sea, you cannot get the same tumblerful of water out again." — James Clerk Maxwell

Critical Acclaim for James Clerk Maxwell:
"From a long view of the history of mankind — seen from, say, ten thousand years from now — there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th century will be judged as Maxwell's discovery of the laws of electrodynamics. The American Civil War will pale into provincial insignificance in comparison with this important scientific event of the same decade." — Richard P. Feynman

"Maxwell's equations have had a greater impact on human history than any ten presidents." — Carl Sagan

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
Meaning of the word Temperature
The Mercurial Thermometer
Heat as a Quantity
Diffusion of Heat by Conduction and Radiation
The three Physical States of Bodies
"CHAPTER II. THERMOMETRY, OR THE REGISTRATION OF TEMPERATURE"
Definition of Higher and Lower Temperature
Temperatures of Reference
Different Thermometric Scales
Construction of a Thermometer
The Air Thermometer
Other Methods of Ascertaining Temperatures
"CHAPTER III. CALORIMETRY, OR THE MEASUREMENT OF HEAT"
Selection of a Unit of Heat
All Heat is of the same Kind
Ice Calorimeters
Bunsen's Calorimeter
Method of Mixture
Definitions of Thermal Capacity and Specific Heat
Latent Heat of Steam
CHAPTER IV. ELEMENTARY DYNAMICAL PRINCIPLES
Measurement of Quantities
"The Units of Length, Mass, and Time, and their Derived Units"
Measurement of Force
Work and Energy
Principle of the Conservation of Energy
CHAPTER V. MEASUREMENT OF INTERNAL FORCES AND THEIR EFFECTS
Longitudinal Pressure and Tension
Definition of a Fluid-Hydrostatic Pressure
Work done by a Piston on a Fluid
Watt's Indicator and the Indicator Diagram
Elasticity of a Fluid
CHAPTER VI. LINES OF EQUAL TEMPERATURE ON THE INDICATOR DIAGRAM
"Relation between Volume, Pressure, and Temperature"
Isothermal Lines of a Gas
Isothermal Lines of a Vapour in Contact with its Liquid
Steam Line and Water Line
Continuity of the Liquid and Gaseous States-Experiments of Cagniard de la Tour and Andrews
CHAPTER VII. ADIABATIC LINES
Properties of a Substance when heat is prevented from entering or leaving it
The Adiabatic Lines are Steeper than the Isothermals
Diagram showing the Effects of Heat on Water
CHAPTER VIII. HEAT ENGINES
Carnot's Engine
Second Law of Thermodynamics
Carnot's Function and Thomson's Absolute Scale of Temperature
Maximum Efficiency of a Heat Engine
Thermodynamic Scale of Temperature
Entropy
Fictitious Thermal Lines
CHAPTER IX. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A SUBSTANCE
Four Thermodynamic Relations
The two Modes of Defining Specific Heat
The two Modes of Defining Elasticity
CHAPTER X. LATENT HEAT
Relation between the Latent Heat and the Alteration of the Volume of the Substance during a Change of State
Lowering of the Freezing Point by Pressure
CHAPTER XI. THERMODYNAMICS OF GASES
Cooling by Expansion
Calculation of the Specific Heat of Air
CHAPTER XII. ON THE INTRINSIC ENERGY OF A SYSTEM OF BODIES
Intrinsic Energy defined
Available Energy
Dissipation of Energy
Mechanical and Thermal Analogies
Prof. Gibbs' Thermodynamic Model
CHAPTER XIII. ON FREE EXPANSION
Theory of a Fluid rushing through a Porous Plug
Determination of the Dynamical Equivalent of Heat
Determination of the Absolute Scale of Temperature
CHAPTER XIV. DETERMINATION OF HEIGHTS BY THE BAROMETER
Principle of the Barometer
The Barometer in a Diving Bell
Height of the ' Homogeneous Atmosphere'
Height of a Mountain found by the Barometer
CHAPTER XV. ON THE PROPAGATION OF WAVES OF LONGITUDINAL DISTURBANCE
Waves of Permanent Type
Velocity of Sound
CHAPTER XVI. ON RADIATION
Definition of Radiation
Interference
Different Kinds of Radiation
Prevost's Theory of Exchanges
Rate of Cooling
Effects of Radiation on Thermometers
CHAPTER XVII. ON CONVECTION CURRENTS
How they are Produced
Joule's Determination of the Point of Maximum Density of Water
CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE DIFFUSION OF HEAT BY CONDUCTION
Conduction through a Plate
Different Measures of Conductivity
Conduction in a Solid
Sketch of Fourier's Theory
Harmonic Distributions of Temperature
Steady and Periodic Flow of Heat
Determination of the Thermal Conductivity of Bodies
Applications of the Theory
CHAPTER XIX. ON THE DIFFUSION OF FLUIDS
Coefficient of Diffusion
Researches of Graham and Loschmidt
CHAPTER XX. ON CAPILLARITY
Superficial Energy and Superficial Tension
Rise of a Liquid in a Tube
Evaporation and Condensation as Affected by Capillarity
Table of Superficial Tension
CHAPTER XXI. ON ELASTICITY AND VISCOSITY
Different Kinds of Stress and Strain
Coefficient of Viscosity
CHAPTER XXII. MOLECULAR THEORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF BODIES
Kinetic and Potential Energy
Evidence that Heat is the Kinetic Energy of the Molecules of a Body
Kinetic Theory of Gases
Deduction of the Laws of Gases
Equilibrium of a Vertical Column
"Diffusion, Viscosity, and Conduction"
Evaporation and Condensation
Electrolysis
Radiation
Limitation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The Properties of Molecules