Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Solids

Abstract

Thermodynamics is concerned with the behavior of matter, where matter is anything that occupies space, and the matter which is the subject of a thermodynamic analysis is called a system. In materials science and engineering the systems to which thermodynamic principles are applied are usually chemical reaction systems. The central aim of applied thermodynamics is the determination of the effect of environment on the state of rest (equilibrium state), of a given system, where environment is generally determined as the pressure exerted on the system and the temperature of the system. The aim of applied thermodynamics is thus the establishment of the relationships which exist between the equilibrium state of existence of a given system and the influences which are brought to bear on the system.