Tailored to advanced undergraduates, this textbook provides a thorough explanation of general and statistical thermodynamics. It begins with an introduction to statistical mechanics, deriving all the important formulae meticulously and explicitly, without mathematical short cuts.

This textbook explains completely the general and statistical thermodynamics. It begins with an introductory statistical mechanics course, deriving all the important formulae meticulously and explicitly, without mathematical short cuts. The main part of the book deals with the careful discussion of the concepts and laws of thermodynamics, van der Waals, Kelvin and Claudius theories, ideal and real gases, thermodynamic potentials, phonons and all the related aspects. To elucidate the concepts introduced and to provide practical problem solving support, numerous carefully worked examples are of great value for students. The text is clearly written and punctuated with many interesting anecdotes. This book is written as main textbook for upper undergraduate students attending a course on thermodynamics.

Offers a highly pedagogical and very thorough introduction to statistical thermodynamics Provides an in-depth examination of the van der Waals gas Contains many problems and a large number of solved examples Derives all the important formulae meticulously and explicitly, without mathematical short cuts Explains also the needed mathematics Provides alternative solutions to problems and second equivalent explanations of important physical concepts Provides extensive coverage that enables instructors to tailor their syllabus to match the class profile Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

After attending Islamia College in Peshawar, Raza Tahir-Kheli read Physics at Oriel College, University of Oxford, in 1955 and completed his Ph.D. there in 1962. He served as a Research Associate-Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, from 1962 to 1964, prior to working at the Nuclear Science Laboratory in Islamabad for a two-year period. In 1966 be became an Assistant Professor of Physics at Temple University, where he subsequently served as an Associate Professor (1968-1970) and Professor (1970-2011). Other short-term appointments include two sabbaticals at the Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford; Royal Society Visiting Professor in 1982; Professeur de Echange, Centre Scientifique d'Orsay, France; Visiting Professor, Institute Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France; Part Sabbatical at Max-Planck Institut für Physik and at the Department of Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara. Raza Tahir-Kheli was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007. Currently, he serves as a Professor Emeritus at Temple University.

Inhalt
Introduction and Zeroth Law.- Perfect Gas.- The First Law.- The Second Law.- First and Second Laws Combined.- Van der Waals Theory: Imperfect Gases.- Internal Energy and Enthalpy.- Fundamental Equation.- Thermodynamic Potentials.- Statistical Thermodynamics:Third Law.